


let's go, all riders! : estate clear out

by insectoid_demigoddess



Series: godworship [7]
Category: Kamen Rider - All Media Types, Kamen Rider Gaim
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Gen, How to Spoil Your BF by Kazuraba Kouta, M/M, Post-Canon, Post-Canon Fix-It, applying gentarou's friendship handshake A LOT, applying the law of ooo, instead they are cleaning out a friend's storage room, no kaijin no shocker no interdimensional monster of the week, riders should help each other out, takatora is inducted into the rider groupchat, the riders gather and the world is NOT ending, the winter crossover movie --- er fic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-08
Updated: 2020-12-13
Packaged: 2021-03-08 21:41:40
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 26,602
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27443572
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/insectoid_demigoddess/pseuds/insectoid_demigoddess
Summary: previously in godworship:"the storage room… sounds like a lot of work? like, you'd want more help with that, specifically?"kouta's hopeful look prompts takatora to admit as much.  "if there was at all a way that i could dispose of everything that can be disposed of, without triggering some unnatural imbalance, i would be grateful.""i'll put out a call," is kouta's easy suggestion.--the kamen riders have gathered at zawame city to embark on their latest and most important team-up yet: to clear out the kureshima estate's storage room.and also, make some new friends along the way.[ godworship-compliant; an ambitious crossover of epic proportions, dedicated to friendship and riders having a Good Time ]
Relationships: Hidari Shoutarou/Philip, Kadoya Tsukasa/Kaitou Daiki, Kamen Rider Club (Fourze) - Relationship, Kazuraba Kouta/Kureshima Takatora, Kisaragi Gentarou & Souma Haruto, Kujou Kiriya & Kureshima Takatora, Nitou Kousuke/Souma Haruto
Series: godworship [7]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1728640
Comments: 28
Kudos: 13





	1. prologue

**Author's Note:**

> i take the law of ooo very, very seriously.

###  _ one month ago, on a saturday: _

despite having nine extra pairs of hands for the task, it still takes around two hours to clear the kureshima's library. 

it is, sanada assures micchi, enough time to prepare an appropriate feast, but it's also two hours of stacking and moving books around and reshuffling playlists because 'the vibe is wrong'. this is micchi's house and he technically should have final say, but once yuri adjusts her cat eye-frames, it's all over.

"don't feel too bad," misaki says, comforting micchi with an elbow to his side in solidarity, before tightening the yellow bandana around his head and picking up a duster. "she and karin have some pop rock in there now, at least."

the resigned tone in misaki's voice belies his noticeable fondness. micchi sees it echoed in hotaru and the way the other raid wild member followed the invitto pair around with his own duster as they brought down books from the shelves marked safe to do so. 

"they're not bad," micchi concedes, carefully ambiguous, and empties another shelf for misaki to dust. 

across the room, chucky had drafted reon, the youngest new team baron member, into classifying the books to be given away. he has a list from the local libraries of things they want, and together they check off titles and do what is arguably the most altruistic part of the day's task. 

beside them, adding to and rearranging the stacks micchi has decided to keep, are zack and peko, who somehow already has a tray of finger sandwiches on his lap.

peko pops one in his mouth, notices micchi staring, and waves. "this is the third book on 'alchemic properties of living things' we've found," he says around his mouthful, pointing at the suitably dark colored book at his left. "storage room pile?"

"storage room pile," micchi agrees. "nii-san's friends will take care of them."

calling the host of riders set to descend on the kureshima estate 'takatora's friends' seems preemptive, but micchi doesn't doubt that that's what they'll be after the trials of the storage room. 'forged through fire' is a fitting epithet.

an hour and a half, three playlists changes, one spectacular nosedive over a stack of books that reon didn't notice, and not more than fifteen minutes after peko made everyone want to finish up quickly with a picture of the lunches the other beat riders were having, sanada sends a maid in to call them down to eat. 

tsubomi shoots micchi more than a few glances as they exit the library, which, despite the girl's usually skittish temperament, strikes him as odd. someone whistles loudly ahead of them - karin, with an impressed looking hotaru next to her - and directs the group to the nearest bathroom to wash their hands clean of dust and "make yourselves presentable, at least!" chucky notices micchi hanging back, but lets him be after he gestures to tsubomi and promises to catch up soon. 

alone in the hallway, tsubomi bows deeply to micchi and says, "a package arrived from your uncle kougami earlier."

for a moment, micchi allows himself to hope that it isn't as bad as he thinks it'll be. tsubomi wrings her hands in her apron and continues, "there's enough for your guests to take home, if they'd like."

micchi curses internally, and tsubomi winces as if she'd read his mind. she's endlessly empathetic and micchi hates making her feel bad, so he composes himself, thanks her for the news, and tells her she can have his slice when dessert is served. 

the cake, decorated with small, sugar-craft books, says: "HAPPY BIRTHDAY! FINISH YOUR CHORES!" and micchi bites his lip to stop the sigh that threatens to escape him. at least peko thinks the cake is funny. 

between the dozen of them (micchi pressed for sanada to have a slice, too), they demolish most of the cake. the rest is packed away for the beat riders to take home after they ensure the shelves are clean and the boxes of books are labeled properly.

"next time let's do something fun," peko suggests as they make their way back to the library. the beat riders walk just a little ahead of them, chattering amongst themselves and surrounding micchi with an inexplicable warmth despite not putting him in the center of things.

"helping you with your chores is fine and all, but invite us over for like, movies next time!" peko links his arm with micchi's, smiles up at him like a miniature, non-lethal sun, and that's all it takes for micchi to agree. 

"next time would be at the new house," he tells peko, "and after the estate is cleared out completely." the music has started up again inside the almost-completely emptied library, and micchi smiles, furtive but not unnoticed by the boy right beside him. 

"i look forward to it."

micchi's text to takatora later reads: [ the library is done. we put the books by the storage room. good luck. ]

[ also, uncle sent a cake over. ]

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> \- beat riders apply the ohana principle and the invitto girls adopted the raid wild boys, they're tight af now. all this is rooted in peko, who survived the end of the world and and saw that it wasn't the weak or the strong who held it up, but the power of bonds between people. he won't see zawame burn down again if he can help it, _and he's ready to help it_.


	2. scheduling

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> [ this is from kouta: hey everyone! hope you're all doing well. i wanted to ask if anybody's free to help clear out the kureshima estate storage room around a month from now? takatora's moving somewhere with less than a 10 minute walk between the dining room and his room and the storage room isn't clear for the 0123 movers. it's not a world-ender but if you've got the time i'd appreciate if you came by! more details when i'm on-earth, thanks! - 🍊]

###  _one month ago, on a wednesday:_

"i will be in charge of the inventory," philip says with matter of fact confidence. shoutaro isn't around to contextualize - 'takatora said the artifacts are likely _not_ on the up and up so there's no way _civilians_ are going to be wrapping it up in special boxes' - but kouta understands him perfectly anyway. 

"that's gonna be a big help, i'm glad." 

philip smiles as he peers at kouta from between the gaia library's shelves. "it's a compelling prospect. i should be thanking you and takatora for the most unique opportunity."

kouta rubs the back of his head with a sheepish smile, a marked contrast with his armor and regal glow. "for real though, i appreciate you helping him out. he's stressing over this bit of the move in particular and i wanted to make it easier for him…"

it's a sentiment that philip usually hears filtered through shoutaro's voice, so the fondness is similarly diluted, but the reassurance he gives to kouta just as sincere. 

"you're already rousing a network of heroes to help with this refreshingly mundane task. i believe the only way you can supersede this is by being there yourself--"

"yeah, of course i will!"

"--and so it is reasonable to conclude that things will be alright."

kouta's mouth thins into a line as he digests philip's words. and then, he exhales, claps his hands twice over his cheeks, and asks philip if he'd ever been on the rainbow line. 

###  _one month ago, on a friday:_

kiriya's eyes glitter behind his sunglasses, halfway pulled down to suit the leer he's got going on as he leans towards takatora. "your face says 'don't fucking do that again', but your mouth says--"

" _don't_ fucking do that again, _kujou_." takatora snaps, his voice dropping as he meets kiriya's gaze. it is, if kiriya were asked to say, _hot_ , and sufficiently intimidating that a lesser being might have gotten their butt out of striking distance just from the first syllable alone. 

kiriya, blessed to be the wrangler of difficulties, is no lesser being. his preservation instinct has also surrendered the wheel to his fervent desire to make kureshima takatora his friend, so there's really no helping anyone at this point. 

he holds a hand to his heart, slouching at the corner of takatora's desk with a forlorn look. his labcoat shimmers off his shoulders and halfway down his arms in a suitably dramatic way as he sighs, " _yeouch_. scathing, that is, kureshima-san, to your visitor no less…!" 

the glare takatora shoots at him could cut diamonds, _at least_. "we'll get back to watching our manners when you don't _spring out_ _of my phone_ in the middle of my conversation with _my secretary_."

the girl seemed to deal with it fine after the first surprised shriek. she'd hissed, "bugster virus?" as she adjusted her cat-eye frames, excused herself, checked takatora's schedule to confirm his identity, then marched out of the office, promising to return with refreshments. still, kiriya can admit it wasn't his best entrance. 

"alright, alright, i'll apologize to her when she gets back." sobering up, kiriya pixelates into the chair across takatora's desk, waving a data stick in one hand. "i _do_ have a legitimate reason for this visit, though, so you can't be mad at me forever."

"that's preposterous, i'm not mad at you." takatora says, taking the data stick and plugging it into his laptop, all sharp lines still but missing that live wire air about him. without looking at kiriya, he continues, "i'm just disappointed you brought out your best trick so early on."

kiriya grins so hard it hurts. "oh, _takatora_ , you haven't seen _anything_ yet."

###  _three weeks ago, outdoors on a sunday:_

eiji rubs at a smudge of dirt on his face as he ponders flights and dig schedules. across him, kouta uses a slim length of a vine to pry at a stone slab, careful not to dislodge more than the dirt caked into it from years of being buried underground. 

"i can make it," he announces eventually, smiling as he leaves the smudge where it is for now. "there'll be a return trip around a week before you need me in zawame, and i owe cous coussier a visit."

the stone slab is only halfway 'cleaned' but because he's still iffy on fine vine control, kouta pauses before returning eiji's smile with one of his own. "great! that's really helpful, i owe you one."

"riders should help each other out," eiji says, reaching over the stone slab with a fist. "and this sounds _much_ less stressful than our usual team up's, i'm looking forward to it."

"i know what you mean." kouta nods solemnly, tapping his fist against eiji's. "okay so, i'm not getting any bad vibes from this one but also, no vibes in general isn't _good_ , right?"

"hmm, that checks out… let me ask the team lead. sawatari-san--?"

###  _three weeks ago, indoors on a monday:_

"so masako-sensei is meeting with takatora today, and i get to be another pair of eyes on the adjusted emergency protocols. sounds fun, don't it, ace?"

emu pats kiriya's shoulder as he concentrates on his tablet. standing beside him, emu sees how the lines of text kiriya's carefully perusing are reflected on his reading glasses, and has a minor flashback to software engineering reports. he grimaces and squeezes kiriya's shoulder. 

"masako-sensei wouldn't entertain your gossiping if you were there in person, anyway."

"i was going to offer _moral support_." a paragraph gets highlighted in pink, and kiriya's brow furrows as he types in the comment box. 

"i'm sure kureshima-san would appreciate you replying to the storage room clear out thing first." at kiriya's inquiring noise, emu pulls out his phone and scrolls down to the group chat ("justice on wheels") where's there's a pinned message from someone with an unimpressed cat wearing a pinwheel hat as an icon. 

[ this is from kouta: hey everyone! hope you're all doing well. i wanted to ask if anybody's free to help clear out the kureshima estate storage room around a month from now? takatora's moving somewhere with less than a 10 minute walk between the dining room and his room and the storage room isn't clear for the 0123 movers. it's not a world-ender but if you've got the time i'd appreciate if you came by! more details when i'm on-earth, thanks! - 🍊]

before kiriya can ask, emu is already shaking his head apologetically. "the pediatrics interns are coming in that week, nothing but a bugster emergency is getting me out."

that meant parad would be staying at the hospital too, kiriya muses. hiro and taiga weren't the type to be inclined so that left him to represent their motley crew (kuroto isn't an option, and poppy who works two jobs is an outlier and isn't counted out of respect).

"i _suppose_ i can make time for my friend and his likely haunted storage room."

emu taps out a reply for him, smiling as he lets kiriya lean his head against his side. "you're going to have fun, you know it."

"yeah, i guess… also, _ten minutes between rooms_ , does god _hear_ what he's saying--?"

"mmhm…"

###  _three weeks ago, in between classes on a thursday:_

tomoko considers the white-gold shade of polish she's applying to gentaro's nails and, after a moment, decides that it's subtle enough to pass dress code, but also fashion enough for miu. 

"so what do you think, tomo-chan? wanna come check out the haunted storage room of an old mansion with me?" gentaro asks, breaking her train of thought. she blinks and purses her lips, "jk and i are going over his podcast script that weekend."

even gentaro's signature pompadour droops at that. he springs back almost immediately though, wishing them luck and lots of ideas and promising to bring back anything he thinks would interest her. "kouta says _everything_ needs to go."

tomoko makes a note to look up the kureshima estate later, thanks gentaro for his thoughtfulness, and bows her head over his nails again. 

"stay still, gentaro-san, these need to be perfect for your next class."

###  _three weeks ago, in a dream on a thursday:_

date akira meets eiji's friend, _god_ , in a dream. he's a very polite god, inviting date to sit and talk in a familiarly spartan apartment that date misses sorely because, as god explains, it's easier to talk in a place date has no problems visualizing.

god asks him for a favor for his boyfriend (handsome guy, looks used to stress but also likely to break hearts when he smiles) and date takes zero seconds to agree, with the caveat that if there's a situation in his base, he'll prioritize accordingly. 

god agrees, sharing his hope that nothing ends up happening. considering the area he mentions, _nothing_ is the best they can hope for. 

"okay so, that's out of the way - i gotta ask. can you make an oden stand _right here_?"

"well, i haven't tried, but if you have a particular one in mind…?"

" _i do_."

###  _two weeks ago, with onigiri on a tuesday:_

takeru puts his hands together and bows deeply, "i'm really sorry, i can't make it, kouta-san."

"it's fine, it's fine," kouta says, patting the shoulder of takeru's colorfully printed hoodie - this one's flowers are orange blossoms, "i did ask _if_ you were free, you don't have to _make_ yourself available for it."

takeru straightens up, but he's still frowning, so kouta plucks an onigiri from the tray and puts it in his hand. the frown shrinks into a pout as takeru thanks him and takes a bite. 

"we're just not sure if hongo-san's flight is coming in early or late that day, and i promised mayu-chan we'd wait with her at the airport."

that's a whole different level of important altogether, and kouta doesn't say _it must be nerve-wracking, being the favorite grandkid_. instead, he picks up an onigiri for himself, admiring the way onari forms them just right. "there should be a bunch of stuff to do there while you wait. how's mayu-san doing?"

takeru launches cheerfully into a recount of their last call, segueing into his university classes and then taking a distracted detour into news about the ganma world, all the while munching through another onigiri. he barely pauses, until the musashi eyecon peers up from his sleeves, makes a sighing motion, and floats up to knock off a grain of rice sticking to his chin. 

"oh--thank you, sorry, where was i--ah, kouta-san, your face..."

before kouta can ask anything, the musashi eyecon has floated up to him too, and given him the same fussy treatment. 

for a moment, he and takeru are silent. and then, takeru erupts into infectious giggles that don't take long to overcome kouta. that's how onari finds them, the new tray of onigiri in his hands setting them off in another fresh round of laughter. 

between them, the musashi eyecon sits, stoic and long-suffering. 

###  _two weeks ago, with macarons on a saturday:_

" _mon cher_ nicol has told me that you'll be flying overseas," oren announces as he sits himself across takatora. the usual table they claim for themselves is far enough from even the few patrons present, so takatora sees no harm in discussing his schedule with the man his security detail counts on for backup. 

"i'll be back in a few days, if all goes well."

"it's a very dubious _if_ , i've also been told." oren uses little tongs to lift the macarons off the larger dish they'd been served in and set them on takatora's smaller plate, piling it high with four- five- no, six of the multi-colored delicacies. despite its pleasantness, the smile on his face dares takatora to protest - and there are still many more macarons on the larger dish.

takatora knows what oren is after. as he considers which flavor to start with, he explains, "i'll have a full team with me, and another rider - an established medical professional - on call should things go awry in unexpected ways."

sighing, oren remarks, "the best laid plans often do, my prince."

takatora bites back a sigh of his own, and instead focuses on finishing his chocolate-&-mint macaron in a few bites - as long as it isn't a cake, he has no qualms about enjoying charmant's offerings. while takatora polishes off his plate, oren gleefully informs him that his dear apprentice had crafted most of the new flavors, especially the mint-based ones that takatora has so enjoyed. 

"then," takatora says, piling his plate with another two- three- no, four mint-green macarons, "please give my compliments to the chef."

oren preens, and the rest of the dessert is parceled out between them as he regales takatora with the week's highlights, starting with a recounting of how jounouchi had finally learned to keep his ascots safe from the beat riders' parties he insists on attending. after the first time takatora had found one of said ascots around mitsuzane's wrist, he thinks it's fine for oren to be so pleased. 

###  _two weeks ago, with donuts on a monday:_

"one kiwi-mango donut with the coconut glaze, please."

hungry's manager lights up with a smile, excitedly coming around the food truck to clasp their most loyal customer's hands. "oh! is today _finally_ the day we get you to try our specials?"

haruto smiles, and shakes his head. "sorry, but it's for my friend. just one plain sugar for me."

though deflated, the manager serves up haruto's orders quickly, earning her a smile from the young man sitting at the nearby table, and an appreciative exclamation once he takes a bite. 

"these are really good!" kouta says, flashing the manager an enthusiastic thumbs up. haruto nods, "the specials change up often, yu-san's pretty creative." 

for a while the two riders enjoy their snacks in silence, and it's only when their plates are empty of even crumbs that kouta starts to speak. "so, about that message i sent out a few weeks ago, you coming?"

"mmhm, and i'm bringing kousuke, who's actually more likely to get anything of value from this favor." haruto takes a sip of his iced coffee and clarifies, "not a complaint, by the way. it'd be nice to see you guys without some crazy monster laughing at our impending demise in the quarry."

"tell me about it," kouta sighs. "i really hope nothing like that happens. it's just a storage room!"

"filled with ancient, untouched treasures." kousuke's advisor would throw a fit when she sees what her student is up to, haruto's sure. 

"is it bad that i hope it ends up completely boring and uneventful?" kouta asks, peering over haruto's shoulder at the rest of the donuts on display. 

smiling around his straw, haruto shakes his head. "not at all. now, i don't know about you, but i'm feeling like another donut."

"oh, same, i'll get the strawberry-cream cheese next. and, a box of plain sugar to go, mai's gonna want some of these for herself."

"excellent taste."

###  _little less than two weeks ago, at the tomari house on a thursday:_

shinnosuke passes kouta a milk candy from the dish on the ledge and together they unwrap their first pieces of the treat, standing in the veranda and away from the adorable but sticky fingers of shinnosuke's son, eiji. inside the house, they hear gou, trying in vain to distract him from looking for his father, and chase, who's doing a similarly bad job at the task. 

"sorry, his teeth are just coming in and if he sees me with this stuff, he's going to want to chew on the wrapper again." shinnosuke sounds both immeasurably fond and deeply confused about his son's habits, and kouta can't help but smile. 

"maybe wait a few years before you start sharing."

"definitely."

there's beeping, suddenly, the sound of tracks knitting themselves into existence - and then eiji's delighted laughter. shinnosuke peers through a gap in the curtain, chuckles at what is probably a ridiculously adorable sight of his son compounded with his brothers-in-law and the shift cars, and then turns back to kouta, still smiling. 

"so, what did you need to talk about? i assume it's nothing too urgent, since you had time to knock."

kouta rolls the sweet candy around his mouth as he nods, and mimes a phone in his hand. "remember that favor i asked for, a couple of weeks ago? the estate storage room?"

understanding dawns on shinnosuke's face as he chews on his own candy. "right, _that_. i think i thought up a reply and forgot to send it, my bad."

"no problem, i just wanted to make a final headcount before the day itself." kouta holds up his hands and lists, "w is coming, because philip's in charge of inventory; eiji's in the country for it; gentaro's definitely in; so is haruto, who's bringing kousuke because _he's_ the archaeology major i remembered; and, kiriya, from emu's team."

"and takeru-kun?"

"picking up hongo-san from the airport," kouta says, with palpable seriousness (thrown off a bit by how he reaches for another milk candy). 

shinnosuke's eyes widen, and then he nods in equally solemn understanding (as he, too, unwraps another milk candy). "grandkid duties."

"yeah. so am i counting you in or out?"

shinnosuke puts his hands together and bows, "sorry, but count me out. if there's any downtime at all that weekend, we're planning on introducing chase to some new shows on netflix and kiriko and gou have _very serious_ opinions about what he should start watching."

the re-education of the roidmudes to pop culture has been a live topic in the former-special investigations unit, and kouta's always happy to hear how it's going (last time, gen-san had apparently introduced heart to old detective noir films, to inspiring results). he pats shinnosuke's shoulder and smiles as he says, "it's fine, that sounds like it could be an awesome time! and, chase probably needs someone to be the tie breaker."

"exactly."

("oh, but you know what this means?" gou says as kouta prepares to leave, hand raised to summon a zipper portal. 

chase has eiji in his arms, both poised to wave goodbye to kouta, and all three of them direct their attention at gou, who enjoys the dramatic effect of a perfectly timed pause before continuing, "the _doctor_ , the _temple kid_ , and the _cop_ are out."

he snaps his fingers and points at kouta, grinning with a distinctly mischievous glint in his eyes, "not _one_ member of team impulse control is gonna be there."

"... _oh_.")

###  _little more than a week ago, at the less bleak outskirts of torkia:_

"if you're ever in japan, come find me in zawame city," is the message that greets yukimura belial grünstein when he emerges from torkia. 

it's not delivered by the handsome visage of his heart's target, but the young lady in a lab coat with a holster only _just_ noticeable under it impresses on him that, _yes_ , the message is from kureshima takatora, and _yes_ , he's absolutely the kind of man who means a throwaway line like that. 

the doctor at the makeshift field station, a rugged and dashing mountain of a thing that belial immediately identifies as a fellow byproduct of active duty, helpfully guides him through navigating the densely packed cities of the island country. 

date akira taps a finger on a smaller, recursive island and says, "that's zawame. nice place, not especially traditional but not a, a metropolis or anything like that. haven't been there _myself_ exactly but if kureshima says you can visit him there, you should!"

easily said, and perhaps easier done. 

"i've some loose ends i can't bear to leave hanging, but after that… perhaps i _will_ make time for a visit."

 _a mission_ , belial thinks, with a clear image of his target in the crosshairs of his heart. 

###  _the day before, at the zawame city restoration bureau:_

kouta holds up his fingers as he counts: "so the ones who confirmed were: shoutaro and philip, eiji, gentaro, haruto and kousuke, and kiriya."

seven riders, some of whom takatora only knows by name or kouta's association, and some he's comfortable with on (either or both) a personal and professional level. and also, kiriya. 

"emu and shinnosuke have work and family stuff," kouta continues as he sits himself at the edge of takatora's desk, mindful of the documents there, "and takeru's got grandkid duties which, no offense, are kind of a _number one_ -big deal."

he strikes a pose with a serious stiff upper lip, his right arm extended upwards in a diagonal line while his left is tucked into his side. takatora thinks he looks just a little bit ridiculous, but that might have been what kouta intended, as his mouth twitches into a smile and he drops the pose right after takatora huffs a laugh at the sight.

"i've told sanada to expect less than a dozen visitors, this suits him fine for lunch and possibly dinner." not that takatora expected the chore to take that long, only that it felt unfair to have the riders help him out and not thank them as effusively as he's able. 

kouta nods, conceding that the appetites of riders were well-suited to making room for seconds (or thirds, if available). "speaking of, remember that archaeology major i mentioned? it's nitoh kousuke, the fruit man from before."

'fruit man' would have been too vague a tag even between just the two of them, if the nature of the fruit consumption in question hadn't been so bizarre. hearing his name makes takatora look up from his screen, his brow furrowed and his mouth turned down in a frown. 

"the one who can eat helheim fruit, who knows... wizard, was it?" - kouta nods, miming putting on a ring and flapping his coat - "i confess i'm curious about him, that shouldn't be possible at all and the researchers might benefit from speaking with him, if he'd agree to meet them."

takatora leans back into his chair, his expression smoothing itself out as he sighs. "that'd have to wait until after the storage room is dealt with, though."

"is it bad that i'm looking forward to tomorrow?" kouta asks, reaching over to brush takatora's hair from his face. "since, once we're done with it, it's a big load off, and you can relax for a bit."

kouta's touch is warm and soothing, and smells faintly of orange blossoms. takatora recalls seeing a bouquet of the flowers at his secretaries' desk, and knows the office will hold the scent until a new one that kouta likes as much comes along. 

"i'm looking forward to it, too," takatora says, leaning into kouta's hand, "your optimism about tomorrow is much appreciated. it's just reflex by now for me to dread the storage room - grandfather only took me there when he needed a hand bringing in a new piece, and i've never thought of passing an afternoon just exploring there."

like accepting absurdly large cakes, maintaining relationships with his father's friends, and socializing with prettily painted daughters and perfectly poised sons, the storage room is a necessary burden - but, it's one takatora can do something immediate about. 

in the midst of takatora's woolgathering, kouta has scooted closer, to better reach around takatora's head and tilt his face up for a gentle, close-mouthed kiss that still ends up tasting sweeter than it should. when kouta pulls back, he's smiling, and takatora feels his own lips mimicking the expression, however slightly.

"also, not gonna lie, it'll be nice to introduce you to the guys outside of a fight."

often, the fate of the country and the world at large would be threatened by active remnants of several evil organizations or individuals, and heroes of justice would rise up to answer the call. while a noble and honorable pursuit, it isn't conducive to cultivating friendships between the riders who team up to take on threats against the safety of the world.

kouta has told takatora about some of them, starting with his memorable meetings with the riders before and after him (wizard and drive, in an alternate dimension and timeline respectively), and continuing with the occasional team up with older and newer riders, and even some from other dimensions entirely. they all sound extremely taxing and rushed, and while friendships forged through fire are nothing to disparage, takatora does agree that indulging in mundaneity had its charm, too.

"perhaps you can take them to a dance show, next time," takatora suggests, enjoying the way the thought brightens kouta's face. 

"oh, definitely! i gotta ask about that, actually--" he glances at the clock on takatora's desk and gets to his feet, ducking quickly to peck takatora's cheek as he waves a zipper open. "dinner's at seven, see you there!"

alone in his office, takatora reaches up to cup his cheek, feeling it warm under his hand. after a moment, he sighs, and begins finishing his work, keeping the time in mind as he goes. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> \- the 0123 is the [Art Hikkoshi Center / Best Moving Service](https://www.bestservice.co.jp/en/index.html) moving company  
> \- i miss my own therapist so takatora gets to have her. might explore this more, might just hold the image of takatora painting a smooth, flat rock with tiny white flowers to myself.  
> \- yeah chase is back, didn't you know? he got there when i decided that there was no reason i should perpetuate gou's pain just because canon is doing it. can canon do this??? (gives gou a sense of stability in life)  
> \- the rest of the roidmudes are also back bc, wtf, chase needs his family too  
> \- takeru tenkuuji is ichigou's - takeshi hongo's - favorite grandchild. this is what i learned from the kamen rider 1 movie and i'm applying it here. this means he gets to call grandpa and ask if he's visiting and pick him up from the airport and do daytrips with him and see him off. also fight the MOTW with him if there's any.


	3. the arrivals

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> the kamen riders arrive at the kureshima estate.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> informal summary: [various rider ops instrumental version] [ex-aid's henshin belt announcement x 7] _i'm a KAMEN RIDER_

on the day of the clear out, kiriya explicitly informs takatora that he'll be making his entrance when everyone else has gathered, promising to make it as showy as possible. takatora responds with the blandest "okay" he can muster even through text, and leaves his phone in a drawer in his desk in his home office. 

at half past nine in the morning, the first riders arrive: the rev of engines coming up the driveway informs takatora that there's at least two of them, and when he opens the door, it's to find one pair he knows and one he doesn't.

shoutaro tips his hat to takatora in greeting as philip wanders over to the other pair of riders, distinguishable by the bulky belt buckles they wear without any attempt at concealment. one of them is wizard, takatora recalls, and the other is… the fruit man.

"haruto, did you bring--ah, _excellent_." philip takes the paper bag held out to him and returns without further comment to shoutaro's side; he pulls out a plain sugar donut, takes a bite, and makes an expression of almost beatific indulgence. with his mouth full, he greets takatora, shaking the bag slightly, "you _must_ try these, they're phenomenal."

"don't worry about finishing it all at once," haruto remarks as he walks up to takatora. they shake hands and make their introductions, with 'in-suit' names _and_ actual names, which amuses takatora enough that he resolves to do the same from then on.

"kamen rider wizard, but just haruto is fine." 

"formerly armored rider zangetsu. likewise, please call me takatora."

afterwards, haruto gestures for his companion to do the same, saying, "officially, i'm just here to help move things--it's this guy you want to talk with about the artifacts."

the man who next shakes takatora's hand is layered in at least three jackets and possesses a distinctly unkempt air that he explains without even trying. "hey, thanks for the invitation! the name's nitoh kousuke, kamen rider beast."

what takatora means to say after introducing himself is: _it's a pleasure to meet you, thank you for taking the time to come over_. what he actually says is: "ah, you're the fruit man."

without missing a beat, kousuke replies, "nah, kazuraba's the fruit man, i'm just lucky to know him."

they walk inside as takatora explains himself, spared from any sort of embarrassment over his misstep by how the other riders regard their topic of conversation as less important than sharing the donuts that haruto had brought. 

"i meant that, he brings _you_ the helheim fruit." as kousuke nods in understanding, takatora continues, "i don't know if you realize what an unusual position that puts you in."

"ah, yeah, i dig it, no worries." the way that kousuke remains so blasé about the fact sustains takatora's interest, and as they enter the sitting room, takatora ventures, "about that - you… can eat it safely?"

"oh, _i_ don't eat it," kousuke clarifies, " _khimaira_ does."

over by the couch, kouta springs to his feet to greet his senior riders, his delight doubling when he's given a donut. kousuke excuses himself for a moment to offer the other riders a bottle of mayonnaise; he's summarily refused but doesn't seem too put out about it, if the way he returns to takatora with his own donut heavy with mayonnaise is any indication.

"where were we - ah, _right_. the fruit, khimaira eats it, not me." 

takatora repeats the name as a question, and kousuke, expansively informative, answers him: he wipes his hands on his jeans, rummages in the pockets of his bulkiest, outermost-jacket, and pulls out a helheim fruit yet to ripen into a lockseed. takatora fights against, first, the urge to freeze completely at the sight, and second, the shout that rises in his throat when kousuke _peels_ the fruit (albeit _carefully_ ) and holds it up to the gate-shaped buckle on his belt. it opens, there's a contained glow, and then the fruit is gone. 

faintly, takatora hears a disembodied burp. he blinks hard - once, twice, and then nods. "i see. thank you for the demonstration. and for coming over."

"don't mention it!" kousuke pats his shoulder genially, grinning wide. "honestly, the prospect of handling artifacts i don't have to trade my _soul_ for is great and all, but that's nothing to helping kazuraba out. kinda owe the guy my life." 

that, takatora can understand completely. "of course. as to the artifacts - kouta mentioned you're an archaeology major? i'm not certain that all of the pieces have proper documentation, regardless, you're welcome to take your pick when we survey them."

kousuke's brow knits, and he glances between takatora and the riders who'd seated themselves on the couch. "take my - i thought we were just clearing stuff out? kazuraba said you were moving."

"yes, but to be more precise - we're emptying the storage room." takatora finds himself relishing the words; still, however, kousuke remains palpably confused. from the couch, philip speaks up, "kousuke. remember the new wing we're having furnished for the museum?"

"yeah? it's _huge_ , i told you i wanted a lifetime pass--"

"we're getting the exhibits from takatora." philip waves a half-eaten donut. "no strings attached."

takatora nods as kousuke stares at him, mouth agape. "that's right. you're welcome to take anything you like from the storage room, for your personal or academic use." a pause, and takatora adds, "for your use as a kamen rider, too, if anything fits the belt."

"the extensive and varied list of books on alchemy mitsuzane-kun forwarded to me pose a strong possibility that there will be _something_ of use for beast," philip says, wiping the powdered sugar from his mouth and hands. "i'm excited to get started - shoutaro, where is the other pea you share your pod with?"

as takatora sends philip a questioning look, shoutaro scrolls through his phone and answers, "should be here soon, he left amanogawa almost an hour ago." 

"he means gentaro," haruto explains, coming over to lead kousuke - who continues to look completely thrown - to a seat. "fourze, he's a teacher. i thought he was heading over with the rocket?"

takatora's first thought should, perhaps, have been 'is there enough space behind the mansion for a safe landing? (yes)', instead of, "is the rocket orange?" he has a _strong_ feeling that it is.

"yep!" kouta confirms. "but he might be picking eiji up?" the other riders chorus their vague agreement, and philip concedes to waiting until their arrival (it helps that haruto produces another bag of donuts, from a _portal_ , which takatora takes only a few seconds to accept as just plain facts for a rider named _wizard_ ).

the notion of the last pair of riders arriving together is quickly disproven, when sanada comes in with a tray of drinks and a grave expression (it thaws slightly when he sees kouta, who immediately gets to his feet to help hand out the drinks). 

"takatora-sama, a guest has arrived with -- a gift." 

in the background of takatora's climbing dread, he hears kousuke shake himself out of his stupor. "did _you_ know about this?" 

haruto answers him, in even tones that are too sweet to be completely deadpan, "you really think i'd sign us up for manual labor without getting something out of it?"

" _baby_."

takatora wishes he could stay in the moment where he signs off every last extra-legal artifact his family (honestly, mostly his grandfather) has collected over the years to people who clearly have more love for them than he ever did, instead of excusing himself and heading out to receive what is likely a cake specially made for the day's occasion. he sees kouta detour from returning to his seat, presumably to go with him, and before he can gesture otherwise, he's right by takatora's side.

"everything okay?" the way kouta stands hides how he reaches for takatora's hand, which is charming and thoughtful of him, even if they leave the sitting room soon after. 

takatora squeezes his hand and manages a tight nod in response. "everything's fine." it isn't a lie, the situation in the kitchen is completely removed from everything else. "uncle kougami might have sent someone."

kouta grimaces for him, which is just another reason on the expansive list of why takatora adores him. 

the man standing in takatora's kitchen may have arrived in a ridevendor but he is _not_ , as kouta's reaction tells takatora, a mere kougami foundation employee.

"eiji, hey!"

the man - kamen rider ooo - smiles widely, his cheeks dimpling handsomely when he sees them approaching. 

"kouta-kun! and, ah, takatora-san? it's a pleasure to meet you, i'm hino eiji." he shakes takatora's hand with a firm grip, and takatora can't help but notice how warm and calloused his hand is. eiji was usually abroad, he remembers kouta saying, working at dig sites. 

"likewise, it's good to have you here." without glancing at the box the size of an adult's torso sitting on the kitchen island, takatora says, "you didn't have to bring a gift."

"it's not exactly from me…" eiji's words falter at the look takatora can't help but wear upon hearing the confirmation of his fears. "er, it's from this guy i sort-of worked for? with? kougami-san."

"right." because what else could takatora say that would encompass the deep regret of one of their mutual acquaintances being his weird uncle kougami? _nothing_. 

"thank you, nevertheless. tsubomi will take care of it." with appropriate solemnity, tsubomi bows to eiji before turning to the box and carrying it away to the larger kitchen, where it would be cut and parceled out on a seemingly infinite loop. takatora doesn't watch her go or give her any instructions, but he's confident that tsubomi would take care of it - it's not her first cake from kougami kousei, and it likely isn't the last.

kouta and eiji had followed tsubomi with their eyes, and takatora waits for their silent conversation to conclude (they trade shrugs and curious blinking, and nothing else; eiji is tactful, and takatora does not consider the cake when confirming with himself that the rider is likable) before showing eiji to the sitting room. 

when they return, kousuke leaps from where he'd had his head being patted on haruto's lap and bounds up to them, grinning from ear to ear as he shakes eiji's hand. "long time no see! how was thuringia?" 

"messy," eiji answers with an equally wide smile, and the two riders fall into a line of conversation that bemuses takatora with its enthusiasm and bare attempts at coherence. kouta nudges them both to the couch without breaking their concentration; once seated, haruto hands each of them a donut and a glass before giving takatora a thumb's up. _all taken care of_.

only one rider had yet to arrive, and kouta was already asking shoutaro about their whereabouts. takatora feels distinctly out of sorts, having nothing to do; philip notices his hovering, and holds up a donut wrapped in a square of tissue paper for him. it's a plain sugar flavor, unadorned with any complicated decorations, and when takatora takes a bite, he gains full understanding of why the other riders seemed to covet them. 

of course, just as takatora is about to take a seat next to philip and, at his insistence, grab another donut, there's a _crash_.

(in petulant retaliation, takatora takes a bite of his second donut _anyway_.)

the gathered riders each have a hand on their transformation devices at the commotion, except for shoutaro and philip, who rise together in fluid synchronicity. they exchange a look, a nod, and shoutaro strides out of the sitting room as philip tugs takatora up and informs him, "gentaro is here."

the rocket is orange, the suit is white, and takatora feels uncomfortably certain that he knows what the rider is going to say once the smoke clears. the feeling is so strong, in fact, that he finds himself mouthing half of the sentence along with the rider.

"--- _it's storage room clear-out time!_ "

fourze de-transforms, and when the fanfare dissolves, before the gathered riders stands a man with a meticulously kept pompadour, wearing a tracksuit ("new amanogawa high school" is stitched over the chest pocket) and the most recent of the warmest smiles takatora has seen _just_ today. he points at himself with his thumb and announces, "the name's kisaragi gentaro, the man who's gonna befriend all riders!" 

the other riders regard him with fond, indulgent smiles as he walks up to them, making a beeline for takatora. gentaro sticks his hand out, and takatora, with the same uneasy feeling of _knowing_ , grasps his hand and executes a handshake he's never _seen_ before but somehow knows _instinctively_ of. he can tell kouta is staring at them, at _him_ \- his smile is wide and awed, and takatora feels put on the spot in the most non-threatening of ways.

contrary to the feelings leading up to it, the handshake is perfectly harmless, and earns him gentaro's focused attention. "takatora-san, yeah? good to meetcha! sorry i'm late, i had to double back from fuuto. thrusters at maximum were probably too much."

"it's fine, thank you for making the time to come over."

"happy and excited to be here! i missed my pals." gentaro doesn't seem to be able to stop smiling, no matter who he's speaking with. he greets kouta and philip with exuberance and nearly shakes shoutaro's hat off his head, and even when scolded for going overboard, he retains his sunny disposition. 

"then again, you wouldn't be gentaro if you held back," shoutaro muses after the rider in question moves on to greet the rest. he shakes hands with eiji and kousuke and then, with a delighted cry, bodily lifts haruto in a hug that clears haruto's feet at _least_ several inches off the ground. "my kohai!"

the other riders look on with perpetual fondness as gentaro does not put haruto down. takatora blinks at the seemingly unflappable wizard, half-thrown over gentaro's shoulder, who is now blushing a shade of pink commonly found in confectionery.

"senpai," haruto says, polite despite how he's being swung around like a ragdoll, "it's good to see you."

" _missed_ you!" takatora watches haruto clamp down on the urge to struggle as gentaro hugs him _tighter_ , and at his side, kouta stifles a laugh. "tomo-chan couldn't come but i'll say hi to her for you."

"thank you, senpai." haruto waits a moment, but gentaro still doesn't set him down. in fact, he's actually started to walk inside, following just behind eiji and kousuke, in the wake of philip's call to get started. 

takatora has no jurisdiction over this, he's certain, but when haruto catches his eye and stares at him with 'help!' all but spelled out above his head, takatora can't find it in him to ignore his plea. kouta has no such compunction, and has twined his hand with takatora's as they walk after the riders, pointedly not looking at his direct senior. 

thankfully, shoutaro is walking in step with them as well. "shoutaro," takatora prompts, with a meaningful glance at haruto and gentaro. 

"...right. fine, i'll -- hey, _gentaro_." shoutaro claps his hands for attention, and when that gets him only a look and a scrambling attempt from haruto to stay on gentaro's shoulder when he's swung around for said look, he adds, "save your lifting for the storage room."

"i'm plenty energized though!" they can all tell this is true. kouta is nodding, biting his lip to keep from laughing, "yeah, you're super pumped!" gentaro throws out a thumb's up with the hand not holding haruto in place. 

as takatora tries to elbow kouta into, at least, respectful silence, shoutaro brings himself up to gentaro and swats at the arm he has curled around haruto's waist. "put the wizard down so he can help too."

 _that_ finally convinces gentaro to set haruto down. he's back to looking unruffled after a few moments, and he walks with gentaro and shoutaro as if nothing had happened. still, the blush coloring his cheeks remain, and kouta hides a snicker behind takatora when haruto throws an incongruently accusatory look at him over his shoulder.

up ahead of them, philip and kousuke let out delighted cries - they've found the books, takatora presumes.

"hey, if it isn't my favorite pair of thinktanks!"

"kiriya, you made it!" 

"shit, what's shaking, bones and bodybags?!"

...ah, right. _kiriya_.

"how _dare_ you forget me in your _office drawer_ , takatora?" kiriya is all smiles as he overdramaticizes his predicament. takatora can't spare an ounce of effort to pretend he's being serious. "i didn't forget you." a beat. "i left you there on purpose."

kousuke wheezes out a laugh behind him, as kiriya's smile brightens. before he can whip up a response, gentaro puts himself in his line of vision and asks, eagerly and with stars in his eyes, "are you a _contortionist_?" behind him, shoutaro covers his face with his hat.

"he's a bugster - sort of," haruto answers, before gesturing at kiriya to do his bit for further clarification. attentions sufficiently arrested - even eiji and kouta are tuning in to see the pixels in action - takatora focuses on the locks adorning the storage room's door. philip stands beside him, clutching a sheaf of papers for inventory purposes, bright-eyed and rocking on the balls of his feet in excitement.

"i've been anticipating this day since a month ago," philip explains as one, two, three locks fall open for the right keys. "for selfish reasons, yes, the museum will _flourish_ with these new additions," four, five, quick puzzle mechanisms. "but also - it's such a _novel_ circumstance, a rare pleasure to be working together for something so _mundane_." 

the sixth and last lock (a trick to press down at the right angle on the knob) done with, takatora turns to philip, to see not just the anticipation he'd confessed to, but also an expression of joy that crinkles his eyes and pinkens the apples of his cheeks. it makes philip, already youthful to begin with, look younger - and, plainly put, _happy_.

"that… i'm glad to have given you the opportunity."

the storage room door creaks open, and takatora hopes that they hadn't just jinxed the entire day.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> \- everyone has a little bit of a crush on gentaro. _everyone_. haruto is especially susceptible to his senpai and now i want to watch the poitrine movie again. also, idk how he gets his driver back. this is the feel-good ~~summer~~ winter movie of my dreams, and i'm above such nitty-gritty details. gentaro's significant others include, and are not limited to: the presenter's top pick, an international spy, an accomplished witch, miu, an astronaut who doesn't give up on her dreams, JK, shun, my good son who balls good, and actual sentient space goop girlfriend -- with the power of friendship and science, _anything is possible_.  
> \- fateful sengoku movie crossover between wizard and gaim is canon in my heart specifically because takatora gets the fourze lockseed and almost says _uchuu kitAAAA!_ if only it weren't for his unbreakable dignity. (jokes on you, takatora, now all of the riders will know you're so cute it's illegal!!)


	4. the clear out, part one

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> the riders are put to work and a not-so-unexpected guest arrives.

philip being in charge of inventory meant that he was in charge of _cataloguing_ things, which left shoutaro in charge of _directing_ people. 

"alright riders, listen up: the storage room has roughly four sections, so we're splitting up. philip and the inventory stay at the base - right here will do, yeah, move the cloth, uh, tapestries off. okay." rolling his sleeves up, shoutaro nods at the pair of riders who'd arrived alongside them. 

"haruto and kousuke, to the left of the base where the artifacts in glass cases are. most of those are labeled, fragile, and probably best suited for fukui university's history department. haruto will explain it to you, kousuke. get going."

to eiji and gentaro, shoutaro assigns the area to the right of the base. "treasure chests, boxes with _maybe_ some identification? it's a smaller area but trickier. a couple of rolled up wall scrolls and - what else, partner?"

"furnishings for the rooms of the long deceased. a haunted mirror, perhaps." 

"right. those." as eiji walks gentaro to their area, shoutaro turns to the last two riders, and takatora. "kiriya, to the cabinets of documents around the door, as well as the books. philip's gonna want some of those, and so will kousuke, so just pile them up according to a general sense of what you and the others will want."

"alchemy books specifically for hino, right?" shoutaro confirms kiriya's question with a nod and he responds with a snappy salute and a wink at takatora. "i'll catch up with you in a bit."

"finally… kouta. the wardrobes over there, just next to eiji and gentaro's area. if you finish earlier, you can go see if anybody else needs help." kouta nods, pecks takatora's cheek in a quick kiss, and jogs off. shoutaro, with the full measure of takatora's respect, simply tips his hat back and does a quick survey of the riders he'd just sent out. "and... that's it."

takatora clears his throat. shoutaro cocks his head at him, "yes, takatora-san?"

"i was waiting for my task."

philip is the one who answers him, waving the hand that wasn't busy with jotting down notes on his papers. "with me, double checking documentation."

"...that's it?"

"that's it," shoutaro echoes, patting takatora's shoulder, "by god's request and your doctor's orders." 

the first clause takatora has no problem believing - but the second one begs an explanation, which philip is happy to provide after takatora raises an eyebrow at him. 

"the only 'pitfall' of having date akira as your attending physician during a covert operation is that, afterwards, he _will_ impose the strictest of recovery regimens."

"he shared my medical history with you?" was that something doctor-riders just naturally fell to doing, takatora wonders.

"oh no, he sent us a private message entirely composed of emojis and told us absolutely nothing else." philip holds up their phone for takatora to see, and it's exactly as he explained.

[ from: date akira (⌐■_■)ノ

🍈 🙅🙅🙅 💪

🧹 🏋️ 🤹 🚫 🆖 

👨⚕️ 💢 🚑 🏥 ⛓

💖💖💖 ]

"which, in summary, translates to: leave the heavy lifting to everyone else. they'll get antsy otherwise," shoutaro insists. takatora makes an attempt to protest, but it's quickly cut off when philip calls shoutaro's attention to the rug under his seat. 

shoutaro crouches down, lifts the rolled up rug, and arranges it over his shoulder without a hint of exertion, despite takatora's estimate of it weighing a significant amount. 

"to eiji, please," philip instructs, and shoutaro goes off. together, takatora and philip watch him on his way - for decidedly different reasons, takatora realizes, as philip heaves a dreamy little sigh. 

takatora glances at the stacks of heavy tapestries at his feet and around philip's seat, and recognizes the strategy for what it is. when he lifts his gaze, philip has already turned back to his papers, a private smile curving his lips. 

"as i said, takatora - it's a pleasure to help."

with W at the helm, things progress like a well-oiled machine. for the first twenty minutes, takatora does nothing but sit at the opposite end of the lounge, occasionally answering questions from philip, about the documents, and shoutaro, about where a particular item should go. invariably, it's always in the opposite direction of where it had been found, which means that philip and takatora get to watch shoutaro readjust his hold and walk away from them several times.

"he practices kickboxing with haruto and gentaro sometimes," philip says, apropos of nothing except the way his eyes had clearly been focused on something _other_ than the documentation line of the small treasure chest shoutaro had hauled away. "but years on the job have been famously generous to him, his physique is _perfect_."

the moment that takatora finds himself nodding in polite but still _conscious_ agreement, he makes an excuse about checking on the wardrobes in eiji, gentaro, and kouta's area. he brings some documents with him and does not check if the sound he'd heard was philip muffling a laugh or something else.

kouta is elbow deep in brocade when takatora comes by, and despite the shadows cast by the towering wardrobes, his smile when he sees takatora is bright and positively gleeful. "hey, babe, how's it going?"

even thinking 'please don't call me that around your friends' leaves a bad taste in takatora's mouth; he'll never articulate it, despite how he feels slightly less self-possessed whenever it comes up. side-stepping the affectionate nickname, he answers, "less busy than i expected to be, thanks to a certain someone. philip's initial look up yielded significantly helpful information, and most of the doing is already covered by the other riders."

"so, you've barely had to lift a finger? got to sit all cozy while a bunch of guys did the hard part for you?" kouta is either fishing for compliments or wanting to hear confirmation about how little physical or mental stress takatora is contending with. both things he's perfectly entitled to, so takatora nods, and leans over the open chest of formal evening attire to kiss the rosy apples of his cheeks.

"yes. thank you for sacrificing your friends for this endeavor."

"no problem, babe."

despite date's inviolable directives, sitting (or standing, as it were) idly by doesn't suit takatora, not for extended periods of time. he checks on the labels of various items as he wanders around the large room, pausing now and then to watch the riders as they went about their own tasks. occasionally, a portal will appear at different areas, and haruto will move things about, but the rest of the riders seem to get by easily enough without their specific power sets.

it's while he's watching a stack of boxes being moved from the farthest corner of the room to the doorway where kiriya is waiting that takatora glimpses a man in a suit taking a picture of a departed relative's curio collection. 

he should, perhaps, feel more than a little shocked to see him - not one rider he'd been introduced to had mentioned an additional guest - but something about the man gives him pause instead of panic. 

"can i help you?" at his question, the man turns his camera to him, and the audible click of the shutter precedes his (not quite an) answer. "kureshima, right?" takatora nods. "and you are?"

"just a passing-through kamen rider."

"takatora, about these coins-- _holy shit_ , the pink guy!" kouta doesn't drop the pouch he'd been peeking into but he does startle both takatora and 'the pink guy' with his arrival; the latter frowns, "it's _magenta_ ," which stops takatora from echoing the descriptive but still lacking epithet.

"you know him?" kouta nods, snaps his fingers a couple of times, and then points, exclaiming, "decade! right. hi, decade!" 'decade' returns the greeting sedately, "gaim."

kouta makes their introductions as the other rider comes close enough to shake takatora's hand. "takatora, this is decade, uh, senior rider before W. decade, this is takatora, my boyfriend and the guy whose storage room needs cleared out." 

takatora wills himself not to blush, and succeeds, if decade's non-reaction is anything to go by (he's probably just being polite, though). kouta bumps fists with him, and then his welcoming smile turns into a puzzled frown. "how did you find out about this? shoutaro didn't mention you coming by."

"i have my ways," decade not-explains. "mainly i'm here to make sure _my_ boyfriend doesn't rob _yours_."

despite having no clue who this boyfriend is, takatora is certain of one thing: "it's not robbing if he's welcome to have whatever he wants." takatora imagines how that would look like on the insurance line or police report - despite the inherent nitpicking of such documents, it's a tempting scenario to be able to say _'i don't know, i was robbed'_.

decade grimaces, clearly not sharing takatora's vision. with a wary glance around, he mutters, "somebody knock on wood or something."

decade - "kadoya tsukasa. using our suit names in someone's house like this feels too stiff, doesn't it, kouta?" "oh, yeah, totally!" - accompanies them as takatora goes to reconvene with philip about the coins kouta had found. he snaps pictures of some items as they walk, and answers kouta's questions about his recent travels in return for news of this world.

shoutaro doesn't seem too surprised to see tsukasa with them when they return to the base of operations. "i figured with so many of us in one place, you'd likely come around." sprawled on the lounge, philip looks decidedly uninterested with his arrival, only glancing up at tsukasa when shoutaro asks, "is daiki-san gonna swing by?" 

"that's what i'm here to stop, it wouldn't be like him to pass up a treasure trove like this." tsukasa takes a picture of shoutaro's unamused eyeroll, and is wholly unprepared for when a stack of folded tapestries is passed to him.

"while you wait, go check with kousuke if his department can use these," shoutaro instructs. 

"i don't know who that is," tsukasa counters, only to be spun by the shoulders by kouta. "beast, haruto's boyfriend! i'll introduce you. shoutaro, takatora was looking for eiji."

takatora, silent all through the proceedings in the interest of observing riders in a casual exchange, starts when philip, who had also been silent as he focused on the inventory list, tugs on his pant leg and says, "eiji knows about the coins - rather, medals. he's over by the book piles."

"thank you. how is the list looking?" takatora asks, noting the speed at which philip struck through the document in his hand. 

" _terrific_." philip smiles as he replies, swinging wide arcs with his pen as he goes from point to point on his update. "the new wing will be dedicated to a host of mythologies. the documentation isn't as lacking as you expected, kousuke's advisor will be relieved at the lack of legal nitpicking. _and_ , there's a high chance that kaito daiki - diend, in-suit - has already arrived in the area, but tsukasa doesn't need to know that."

at takatora's questioning look, shoutaro explains, "philip wants more hands on deck. daiki-san isn't causing trouble, don't worry."

beholden to no action or application of responsibility, takatora trusts W's word for the situation, nods, and excuses himself to find eiji.

"philip informed me that you know about these." takatora empties the pouch on a nearby flat surface and does not stop the displeased frown that comes over his face at the sight of the medals' intricacies. hopefully, eiji reads it as 'confused', but takatora doesn't mind otherwise.

"these… these are core medals." eiji dusts his hands off on his shirt before reaching for the coins. he examines each one - there are three, of similar shades of grey but with varying markings. " _new_ ones, even-- _how_ …"

the phrase 'core medals' activates several associations in takatora's mind: most recent is in relation to eiji, how he transforms, and why he's all over the globe at various sites related to alchemy and the ancient practice thereof. the rest date at least ten years back, and invariably involve his grandfather and uncle kougami, an uneasy knot in his stomach, and the unnerving feeling of being _observed_ whenever he so much as _touched_ the medals now in eiji's hands.

"takatora-san, do you have any idea what these are?"

"not a bit," takatora answers readily. theoretically, he could _try_ to recall what he'd been told about these medals, but takatora has the new found option _not to_ , which he wastes no time taking advantage of.

eiji closes his fist around the medals, nodding thoughtfully. "that's, that's probably good. _better_. i'll have them locked up, or something."

 _ah_. _that kind of thing_. it was only a matter of time, really, takatora thinks. "please do, i'm grateful for your help." and then, because it somehow felt natural to add, "the only thing i remember about them is that they made uncle kougami visit more than usual, and so, i hate them and am glad to see them go."

the expression on eiji's face freezes and suddenly, he's pounding at his chest as he chokes. takatora is slightly concerned, but he feels that he knows what caused this, and waits eiji's fit out calmly. "everything alright, eiji-san?"

" _kougami_ ," eiji wheezes, looking as stricken as takatora feels he should, "kougami is your _uncle_?"

"the consequences of familial relations." takatora fishes out a business card from his pocket, "if you have therapy or medical bills as a result of your interactions with my uncle, kindly forward them to me."

"i wasn't _really_ employed - i just, occasionally he helped me out, but…" eiji takes the card distractedly as he looks takatora up and down, and with audible, strangled distress, repeats, "your _uncle_."

"he has that effect on people," takatora says simply, perhaps the only time the word would be apt for his uncle. 

eventually, eiji composes himself; with perfect sombreness, he pockets the medals and the card and says, "my apologies."

"same to you."

before takatora can make his way to the other end of the room, intending on checking with kousuke and how his department had been receiving the artifacts, he's confronted by gentaro.

"yo, takatora-san!"

they're of a height, give or take a few inches, but it's takatora who has to lift his gaze a little to meet gentaro's above the small treasure chest he's holding without visible strain. the space-inclined rider _twinkles_ at him and takatora completely fails to keep both his expression and tone neutral when he returns the greeting, being much too fond of kisaragi gentaro and having no idea why.

"gentaro-kun. have you found anything to your liking?"

"oh, _lots_!" gentaro exclaims, shaking the chest he's holding, "this whole thing is going to one of my friends - tomo-chan, she's really into occult stuff, she'll love it. eiji found some jewelry too, those i'm thinking of giving to miu, but there's this fancy drapey-looking earring with birds on it that i think ryuusei would like? there's a _lot_." 

takatora is both wary about the potential dangers posed by the artifacts to civilians (he could ask philip about them, preferably when shoutaro isn't around) and inordinately pleased that they're leaving his hands. gentaro seems to have a surplus of people to find gifts for, and it delights takatora in a foreign but not unpleasant way.

"it would have rotted here or some other storage room, i'm glad it's going to people who'll appreciate it." 

"it's a lot to keep, isn't it?" gentaro muses, looking around. "sucks to have to haul this much stuff when you move."

with feeling, takatora says, " _yes_." gentaro laughs at the wholehearted admission, and then completely undos takatora's self-possession when he says, "oh man, kouta's _right_ , you _are_ so cute it's illegal."

unmindful of the blush that takatora has no recourse to fight, gentaro steps around him and nudges his shoulder lightly with the chest (in lieu of a punch to the shoulder takatora has no doubt he prefers). "thanks again for the stuff, takatora-san, i'll catch you later!"

"right. see you." takatora counts it a small mercy that at least his voice _sounds_ normal, and not choked with flattered embarrassment. after a few seconds of deliberately deep breathing, he judges his face sufficiently calmed down to be seen by other people - which is perfect timing, as a portal opens just a few steps ahead of him and as haruto leans halfway through it, as wizards apparently.

"takatora-san, you busy?" when takatora replies that he isn't, haruto nods and holds out his hand. "great, i need backup."

 _it can't be that different from traveling by zipper_ , takatora thinks, before grasping haruto's hand and stepping through.

they cross the storage room in a matter of seconds, and takatora only feels the slightest bit of a shiver go through him when he steps out of the portal. haruto takes a moment to make sure he's alright - "your hair poofed up a little?" "i feel fine," - before gesturing to the reason he'd needed backup in the first place.

kousuke is crouched in front of a long, rectangular wooden box, his face buried in his hands. the top of the box is propped up next to another stack of containers, and takatora recognizes the tags on both as coming from his grandfather's chinese artifact binge. he's reasonably sure they're intact, but he still asks haruto if anything was wrong.

"i told kousuke he could take the whole setup in this corner and he started muttering into his hands about how i'm a no-good thief now." in no way does haruto look offended or distressed by this accusation. "since he doesn't believe me, i figured you could tell him."

recalling how kousuke had reacted earlier that day to takatora's insistence that he take what he liked from the storage room, this comes off as 'expected'. takatora walks over to kousuke, kneeling to get a better look inside the box. layers of padding cushion the various figurines, preserving them in perfect repose. takatora lifts a small one out, careful to keep the padding around it, and turns to the rider who hasn't stopped muttering next to the box.

"kousuke-kun." that gets kousuke to look up at takatora, but still only through the fingers of the hands he's kept over his face. it gives him the impression of a frightened child, so takatora gentles his tone and offers the figurine as he asks, "could you use this?"

"...this is a t'ang dynasty figurine," kousuke says, sounding pained for reasons takatora can't fathom. 

"yes, my grandfather had a phase." looking at the crates around them, takatora ascertains that they're mostly in this corner of the storage room, save for the non-sculpture pieces. "we have quite a few of them." 

"and you're just. you're just gonna _give_ it to me?" without his hands covering his face, takatora sees that kousuke's eyes have gone very wide at the prospect of free artifacts. _scientists_ , takatora thinks, _are truly mystifying creatures._

"yes." barely a second after this confirmation, takatora finds himself with a lapful of a bawling rider. haruto helpfully takes the figurine from him and returns it to the box, but doesn't try to pull kousuke off him. "let him work it out while i bring this to his adviser, see how she likes it."

the box is lifted through the portal by chains and some small robotic-looking animals, and for the next few minutes, takatora contends with giving kousuke some awkward pats on the back while haruto periodically pops in and out of the portal with more and more boxes in hand. kousuke's teacher apparently loved the pieces, and was saving her crying and questions for when her student came in to explain himself. 

in takatora's arms, kousuke wails something like "traitor" and, not a beat later, "i love you". haruto blows a kiss in their general direction, and takatora assumes that that was intended for kousuke, so he tells him so. to the credit of takatora's day, he doesn't presume that this will be the strangest thing he's done, but it is, for now, a solid contender.

not a moment later, a pop of yellow pixels briefly lights up their particular corner of the storage room from atop a stack of crates, and kiriya asks, "everything alright there, takatora?" 

his sudden appearance does nothing to surprise takatora, who simply nods and fishes a handkerchief from his pocket. "everything's fine. just artifacts making archaeologists emotional." from the warbles of kousuke's bawling rises a watery "thank you", and kiriya grins. 

"if you say so. come by the book stacks when you're done, yeah?" takatora replies with a thumb's up, and, satisfied with this and having had his fill of the strange tableau takatora is part of, kiriya pops out as easily as he'd arrived.

it doesn't take long after that for kousuke to compose himself, and takatora only has to interrupt his apologies twice to let him know that no harm had been done. with a promise to speak with his advisor and the history department of fukui university, takatora leaves their area of the storage room and makes his way to the entrance and the book stacks lined up beside it.

to his surprise, he finds mitsuzane crouched beside philip and kiriya in front of the stacks he remembers from the family library. "these were sorted earlier, is there a problem with them?"

"nii-san," mitsuzane greets, "hidari-san was asking about a specific book so he, ah, brought me in to find it." the awkward pause tells takatora that something unnatural was involved in 'bringing mitsuzane in' (he'd been out with the beat riders today, takatora recalls such outings invariably taking much of his time), and kiriya confirms this cheerfully. "he got his first taste of a portal walk, _that's_ always fun."

"philip," takatora starts, and he's about to ask if this was truly necessary (there was a detailed, itemized list of books and it had gone straight to philip's hands before they'd started) when shoutaro walks by, a different but still considerably large stack of books in his arms, and says, "book three of the alchemic properties of living things is in this stack, partner, i'm bringing it to the base."

mitsuzane calls out, "thank you, hidari-san," before turning to philip and saying, "i'm sorry for the mix up, hidari-san." he's almost completely _un_ -awkward about it, except for how philip grins at him and nudges their knees together. "call him _shoutaro_." 

takatora now knows in his heart _why_ kiriya and philip are friends. 

"is _this_ why you called me here?" he asks of the bugster scribbling something on a sticky note and placing it delicately on a stack of tomes. kiriya hums, tapping his pen against his chin in mock thought, before shrugging, and gesturing at takatora with the pen like it was a magic wand. "actually, i was gonna ask if business casual is the only way you know how to dress or if we're expecting a meeting with some eldritch being that's been disturbed with all our bustling about."

there's nothing wrong with his button up or slacks, takatora knows, but it stands to kiriya's reasoning that the only other person in the same attire is shoutaro, and he'd rolled his sleeves up and shed his vest and hat within the first hour. kiriya stares him down from over his shades, and if takatora were a lesser man he might have felt _some_ shame - instead, he shifts his gaze to philip and his brother.

excluded from their not-quite staring contest, philip had been chatting mitsuzane up about the beat riders whilst simultaneously waving haruto over. takatora counts one more instance of mitsuzane calling philip by the wrong name - "hidari-san is fine for me," "right, of course, my apologies, hidari-san," - before he's led through the portal. 

and then philip turns back to the books and says, as if he'd been participating in the conversation all along, "kiriya is concerned about your sense of propriety taking precedence over your comfort. one of us is wearing a mumu-adjacent, no one is going to judge you for looking a _little_ less than dignified."

takatora wants to protest the slander laid so plainly in front of him, but kiriya is looking at him expectantly and holding up a yellow hair tie. "i'm getting hot and bothered just looking at you, and it's not even the fun way. i have real questions to ask about the collection of bone saws kept in the same case as old-timey medical equipment, and i promise to stick to that if you roll your sleeves up and tie your hair back."

oh, that was _tempting_. and possibly a blatant lie, but takatora has believed in kiriya for less, so he surmises that this is just the most harmless culmination of his faults.

he takes the hair tie.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> -date's message translates to: "takatora is NOT allowed ANY physical exertion, this includes cleaning, lifting heavy things, or juggling. if he does ANY of these things, his doctor will be very mad and drag him to the hospital and chain him to the bed"  
> -medical practitioners should not actually share your medical history with anyone who isn't directly involved with your care. my grandmother, who will and has told actual strangers why i'm at the hospital, again, is an example not to be followed.  
> -wouldn't we all, as a species, be improved if we had some time to openly appreciate shoutaro hidari's legs?  
> -fukui university is going to be so grateful to takatora, after they come to terms that this is all real and legal (sort of)


	5. the clear out, part two

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> the riders discuss the meaning of friendship, side-eye each others' relationships, and finish clearing out the storage room - not exactly in that order.
> 
> also, the arrival of an expected guest.

"kouta," haruto says, stepping out of a portal and over an open chest of kimono, "your boyfriend made my boyfriend cry." 

crouched amidst a growing pile of divvied up clothes, kouta squints up at his direct senior and ventures,"he deserves it?"

"oh, yeah, definitely. i'm saying thanks." the two riders smile at each other in uncomplicated contentment and, in sync, raise their fists to bump their knuckles solidly together. 

lacking anything better to do ("kousuke's getting some documentation from philip and i can hear them geeking out from here, so, i've got time to spare,"), haruto joins kouta in deciding who of their assorted friends would have any use for clearly expensive, traditional japanese clothing.

"do you think takatora-san would mind if his grandparents' kimono got turned into hoodies?"

"absolutely not. but i want pics, though, takeru's hoodies are awesome. i was thinking of asking him to make me some? that'd be cool."

haruto hums in agreement, and for a while there's nothing but the rustle of cloth in their little spot in the storage room. occasionally, the companionable silence is broken by gentaro's enthusiastic cheering, the flash and click of a camera (" _decade_ is here?" "yeah! for, uh, 'crime prevention', since his boyfriend's around, too."), or someone muttering a curse when they stumble over something, but never by anything more ominous.

the pile for takeru has gotten twice as big as when kouta had been working at it alone when haruto glances up, makes a strange face, and then ducks his head again, fixing a stray fold of a robe back into place. kouta stares in quiet prodding, and then when it becomes clear that haruto is ignoring him, actually reaches out with an engraved hair-chopstick to poke at the other rider and ask, "what was _that_ about?"

"hm? i didn't say anything."

"yeah, but you _saw_ something." kouta pokes him some more, "did tsukasa do something funny? eiji? i owe date-san some gossip since he couldn't come."

haruto grimaces and tries to move around the relentless poking. "i don't know if it's _funny_ , but if you really want to know, here's a hint." he pauses for effect, and to make sure kouta is paying attention, before continuing, "your boyfriend _is_ cute, and possesses the capacity to be cuter."

the sentiment is already fact to kouta, so it takes a moment for it to register as something of note. he makes a puzzled sound before turning his head, casting his searching gaze around the room. "i mean, _yeah_ , thanks for noticing but what's--- _oh_."

he finds takatora, serendipitously, as he's making his way towards them, documents in hand. kouta recalls he'd 'dressed down' for the day, picking one of his older dress shirts he wouldn't mind wrinkling or getting dusty. thus, the rolled up sleeves and the undone buttons from the top aren't surprising - what tangles kouta's tongue into incomprehensible knots is the fact that takatora's hair is up. 

distantly, haruto mutters, "told you so." kouta would shush him, but his mouth feels entirely useless for anything other than gaping at the little ponytail takatora has pulled his hair into and the now exposed line of the back of his neck. unfortunately, takatora chooses this moment to arrive and ask him a question.

"kouta, do you think tenkuuji-kun would like the books on japanese history mitsuzane culled from the library?"

"uh…" kouta's hands twitch at his side as he stares. takatora blinks, tucks a lock of hair that wasn't quite long enough for the tie behind his ear, and says, "is something wrong?"

taking pity on him, haruto comes up to them and claps a hand on kouta's shoulder. "he'd love those, takatora-san. i can bring them over now if you like, i've got some kimono for him too."

somehow, kouta manages a nod and an affirmative-sounding noise before takatora can repeat his question. he tries for a smile, too, but all that does is make takatora laugh at him (it's just a 'hm' with a brief twitch of the corners of his mouth, but kouta _knows_ he's being laughed at, albeit fondly). it's the sweetest, most unhelpful thing he could have done, and kouta is still grateful for it.

"right. thank you, haruto-kun."

"no problem. be back in a bit, kouta."

they leave kouta to himself without looking back, and while he would have been grateful for that, too, it also gives him an eyeful of the graceful slope of the back of takatora's neck. thus, kouta loses the ability to form coherent sentences for a while longer, and is distracted enough that when he turns to a different direction, he ends up stubbing his toe on the chest of robes he'd been working on with haruto.

kouta borrows shoutaro's phone with a stricken expression and no forthcoming explanation other than "boyfriend, _cute_ ". he counts himself lucky that shoutaro's quick on the uptake, and chooses to ignore the thoughtful, agreeing hum he gives when he sees what kouta's being incomprehensible about.

>> [ shinnosuke help, i have a law question - 🍊 ]

>> [ is he allowed to do this ]

>> [ _image.jpg attached_ ]

< [ is that kureshima-san? how's the clear out going? ]

< [ also we've been over this, it's not illegal for your boyfriend to be cute, god-san ]

>> [ it's going great! there's donuts and kousuke cried over artifacts. tsukasa came to help, we're giving takeru expensive robes to make into hoodies, and my boyfriend is so cute i'm not going to survive ]

< [ sounds nice! 👍 please at least try, gou wants you at his birthday party for fruit parfaits ]

"i've been let down by the law," kouta mourns as he returns shoutaro's phone. without even a shred of pity - fake or sincere - shoutaro simply pats his shoulder. "it's not really that bad. for what it's worth, you make a cute couple." when all kouta does is sigh, shoutaro rolls his eyes in the way kouta remembers akira doing a lot when he was younger.

"tell you what. go lift something heavy and make sure he sees you, that'll make you feel better."

"how?"

"just trust me, kid."

"you're _barely_ older than me, you twenty---"

the headlock kouta summarily finds himself in is a great reminder of why W is a legendary force, and why the rest of the riders have collectively decided to leave sparring as a thing that only shoutaro and gentaro do with any real intent (haruto exempted for exercise purposes). 

respectfully, kouta sets aside shoutaro's advice and their brief but intense tussle when tsukasa comes up to the base with a bulky _something_ in his arms. uncovered, it turns out to be a stone statue of a sitting lion, whose paw rests on a ball covered with glittering gold and black patterns.

"this is an expensive jewel, isn't it?" tsukasa asks, and shoutaro holds up a finger and flips through some of the documents left on the lounge before confirming, "to the tune of an estimated five million yen." kouta whistles low at the figure, and shoutaro taps a line on the third page, "a modified door guard. the patterns on the ball are lined with real gold and tiny, precious obsidians. there's a mechanism to move the lion's paw and open up the ball, but no one's figured it out."

"so it's shiny, expensive, and tricky." tsukasa nods to himself, "right. daiki will probably come by to grab this." he moves to lift the statue again, but is stopped when kouta blurts out, "it's super heavy though, isn't it? how's he gonna manage that?"

he sounds more curious than concerned, given how takatora had looked like he enjoyed the thought of being 'robbed' of his family's glorified knick-knacks. shoutaro looks interested in the answer, too. "doesn't diend usually go for things he can transport easily?"

tsukasa huffs, "yeah, but it's his type of thing. he'll find a way." he sounds so sure of himself that kouta can't help but nod along. 

"yes, well, we'll all be appropriately impressed when he does." before tsukasa could bring the statue away, shoutaro steers him towards haruto and kousuke's area, saying, "they need help with moving the ancient chinese pottery, go lend a hand."

tsukasa gripes about unpaid manual labor as he goes, but shoutaro's laughter assures kouta that it's all in good fun. "he's, uh, really excited about diend coming over, huh?"

"yeah, a confluence of riders and a bunch of stuff free for the taking all but confirms that daiki-san is gonna show up." shoutaro looks around at the slowly emptying storage room before shrugging and offering kouta an easy smile. "then again, he might not. sometimes folks define treasure differently, and heck if i know daiki-san well enough to say he'd like anything here."

 _unlike tsukasa_ goes unsaid, but kouta catches the sentiment anyway.

"well, if he does, i'm sure takatora'd be happy to have him. i think he's excited about the prospect of getting robbed." at that, shoutaro laughs. "your boyfriend's weird, kouta, but in the cute way. congratulations."

grinning, kouta thanks his senior rider for the compliment.

after he and shoutaro excuse themselves, kouta wanders back to haruto and kousuke's section of the storage room which, after nearly two hours of work, now boasted more empty squares of dust instead of boxes and crates. it also witnessed less crying from kousuke, now that the reality of takatora's "everything must go" ultimatum had sunk in for him.

"professor sorrel really likes masks, he's gonna love these," kousuke says, holding a mask that stretched over the top of his head and most of his torso and is heavily decorated with beads and feathers. he sees kouta approaching through the eye slits and wriggles his fingers in greeting. "hey, fruit man! have i said thank you to you yet, i don't think i have."

kouta can't help but smile at the unmistakable cheer in kousuke's voice. and then he gives in to a full laugh as kousuke strides up to him and shakes his hand hard enough to dust his arm clean, after setting the mask aside with all the gentleness and delicacy he could muster.

" _dude_ ," kousuke begins with feeling, " _thank you_. my adviser is gonna be in tears when i explain everything to her. we already filled up _two classrooms_ , kouta! the retired arts dean is coming over to check them out!"

"nah, man, thank _you_ ," kouta answers, also with feeling. "it's great that all this stuff's going to a good place instead of like, rotting indefinitely or becoming collateral damage in a warehouse. takatora's really happy about this, and i'm super grateful."

"say no more, seriously, _i_ am fully indebted to you and your rich, not-materialistic boyfriend--"

"dude, come on, _i'm_ the one who's gotta thank you for helping out!"

they get into a thank you-circle that's as silly as it is infectious, only stopping when haruto returns and calls their attention to a small jewelry box he'd gotten from eiji and gentaro's area. both kouta and kousuke studiously ignore the way he glitters (literally, it must be some cosmetic powder or something) and instead pay attention to the box.

"this is a ring chest," haruto begins, "and i've tested a few of them. some of them work, so i'll be getting wajima-san to look at them. there's one here that's pretty special, though." he opens the box and pulls out a bulky ring with a bronze jewel set in a square of stone. kouta doesn't recognize it immediately, but kousuke does - he cheers and grabs the ring to look at it more closely.

"a _beast mantle ring_ , holy shit!" 

haruto nods, setting the box aside and boosting himself onto one of the last boxes in their area. "it's intact, and when i tested it, it worked fine. hey kouta, wanna see a neat trick?" kouta grins and sits himself next to haruto. "sure, yeah, i'm game!"

"o- _ho_ , i'm giving you a show, huh?" kousuke's obviously beside himself with excitement, all too happy to transform into beast to test the ring. he fits it on his finger, and, after making sure kouta and haruto are watching, inserts the ring into a slot on the right of his driver.

the driver flashes and announces "RAT! GO! RA-RA-RA-RA-RAT!" when the transformation light fades, beast stands before them with a mantle the same color as the jewel, and the face of what kouta finally realizes is a rat on the shoulder. 

kousuke considers the mantle for a moment before suddenly turning to a nearby wall and sprinting at it. just when kouta's sure he's about to hit it at full tilt, kousuke runs _up_ the wall, letting out a delighted cheer.

together, kouta and haruto watch as kousuke keeps going; when he hits the ceiling, he holds onto the largest beam crossing the room and continues from there. haruto is smiling a truly mushy smile as he says, "the rat ring allows the user to climb walls. it's pretty cool. we should thank takatora-san properly."

"think he's gone ahead of you on that," kouta comments, as they both watch kousuke pause over eiji and gentaro's area and call out an enthusiastic "thanks takatora-san!"

faintly, they hear takatora answer, "you're very welcome, kousuke-kun," and now _kouta_ is the one with a dopey smile aimed at the general direction of his boyfriend.

being the best direct senior there is, haruto doesn't say anything, and moves on to showing kouta more of the rings he'd found.

at exactly noon, a bell rings at the doorway. it's tsubomi, who bows to the room at large before informing them that lunch is served. scattered, enthusiastic cheers ring out from different corners of the room, and kouta jogs up to her to say that they'd be down in fifteen minutes.

"it'd be rude to sanada if we all came down without even washing our hands, y'see?" at the sight of kouta's dusty hands, tsubomi smiles and nods, "i'll inform him, thank you, kouta-sama. please excuse me."

before kouta can correct her, tsubomi has already fled, her shoes mystifyingly quiet as she hurries across the marble floor. kiriya, who'd been reading through a journal from the pile he'd claimed for emu's team, whistles and mimes a curtsy when kouta looks at him. "it's 'kouta-sama' now, huh? could've mentioned that earlier, god."

"i'm trying to break her off the habit, honestly," kouta sighs. "tsubomi-chan's super nice, but i guess it's gonna take a while, sanada took _ages_ to call me 'kouta-san'."

"it's just proper etiquette for the masters of the house," kiriya explains, brushing off kouta's bewildered protests. "anyway, i'm _starving_ , someone haul kousuke and philip's asses out."

"bold words from someone who's been sitting on the same stack of books for half an hour now." takatora comes up to them with eiji in tow, both looking slightly dustier and, for some reason, _glittery_. kiriya ignores takatora's jibe to stick his tongue out at him; when takatora turns an unbridled look of disgust at him, kiriya snickers.

eiji notices kouta's puzzled stare and explains, "it's powdered gold. i found a make-up chest, and it, ah, exploded when takatora-san tried to get one of the jars unstuck."

"man, hino, way to throw someone under a bus!" 

"shut up, kiriya."

"it looks good," kouta manages, after a moment's consideration of the sparkles dotting takatora's face. he can't quite stop the giggle that climbs its way up his throat though, when eiji blows at his hair and sends a cloud of golden dust puffing off it. even takatora cracks a tiny smile. "there's worse things to be covered by. but we should get as cleaned up as we can for lunch."

"we'll meet you at the dining hall, then?" kouta asks, brushing off a patch of dust on takatora's shoulder. "yes, there's a washroom closer to there that you can use."

"m'kay, see you there babe." unable to help himself, kouta rises on his tiptoes to press a kiss to takatora's cheek, grinning when he earns a faint blush (and, likely, gold glitter on his mouth) for the effort. behind takatora, kiriya makes exaggerated gagging noises while eiji politely doesn't look and directs his smile somewhere else.

"right. see you there."

kiriya and eiji flank takatora as they exit the storage room, and kouta sticks his head out of the door to watch them go, smiling to himself as takatora swats at kiriya and eiji laughs at both of them.

"it's _lunch time_!" gentaro cheers suddenly behind kouta, and that's all the warning kouta has before he's stumbling forward from gentaro rushing at him. when he straightens up, he realizes haruto is piggy-backed on gentaro, which accounts for the weight that almost had him rolling across the floor. haruto, pink-cheeked and resigned but holding firmly onto gentaro's shoulders, mouths 'sorry' at him in their senpai's stead. kouta bites his lip to keep from laughing, and turns his gaze deliberately away from haruto.

"feeling hungry, gentaro?" he gets an exaggerated nod as a reply, and even shoutaro and philip, walking up to them with tsukasa and kousuke, have to restrain themselves when the movement makes haruto clutch tighter at gentaro with _both_ arms and legs, lest he fall off his back. 

"nutrition's important, kouta! miu and shun brought us all to a check up a few weeks back, 'case kengo was being a recluse again and eating work for lunch, and…"

gentaro's rambling chatter accompanies the riders as kouta leads them to the dining hall. after a while, tsukasa announces that it _had_ taken them just a little under ten minutes to get there from the storage room, and all the riders gain a deeper understanding of why the kureshima had decided to downsize. 

("it's even longer coming from takatora's room," kouta sighs, and, in perfect coordination, shoutaro and philip drown out tsukasa's _and_ kousuke's pointed whistling with a question about the manor's staff, a well-timed elbow to the side, and a hard pinch.)

they crowd the washroom nearest the dining hall to freshen up - though 'crowd' is an exaggeration, as inside there's a pair of little lounge chairs that sits almost all of them with only a bit of a squeeze and a mirror that spans the whole of one wall. haruto is finally allowed back on his own feet after gentaro decides to shake the dust off his tracksuit jacket; with a combined sense of tact that several people would be proud of them for, the rest of the riders refrain from commenting on the last fifteen minutes of haruto's life.

(tsukasa took a few pictures anyway, and had covertly shown some to kouta as they exited the washroom.)

when they arrive at their destination, sanada and tsubomi are just bringing in covered trays of food, grabbing the riders' attention for how much there is - on the table _and_ still coming in.

"sanada, let me help--" 

"please sit, kouta-san," the steward interrupts swiftly, side-stepping kouta and setting two large pitchers of water and iced tea on the table. "you have guests to entertain, and tsubomi-kun and i have food to bring in."

the command has kouta doubling back to the table, taking his usual seat to the left of the head of it. haruto sits further down the opposite side with kousuke and tsukasa, and shoutaro pulls out chairs for himself and philip. gentaro takes the seat directly across him, placing him at takatora's right if kouta isn't wrong about the place setting between them.

"so you're 'entertaining guests' now, are you?" haruto asks, a twinkle in his eye that means he'd heard something he could potentially tease kouta with (which he's perfectly entitled to do, considering his direct senior status and the gentaro-related antics of the morning), " _kouta-sama_?" 

_there it is_ , kouta thinks, sighing. "sanada just doesn't like being bothered about the food. i tried to help before but that just got me almost cut off dessert!" he reasons, aware of the pink tinging his cheeks but doing his best not to draw attention to it. going by haruto's exaggerated _hmm_ -ing, he's not doing well enough. 

even tsukasa is moved to get a dig in, "i mean, kouta-sama has more important duties, doesn't he? wasn't it your idea to bring us over to clear out the storage room, anyway?"

"he's just spoiling takatora," gentaro says with not unfounded confidence. "it's cute! he's cute," he continues to assure kouta, flashing a megawatt smile, "keep spoiling him, you both deserve it."

"i mean, i'd do that anyway, but i'm glad you think so." and kouta means it, knocking his fist solidly against gentaro's. 

"the fact remains, however," philip calls from the other end of the table, chin propped up on his hands and eyes alight with glee at the prospect of a casual interrogation (and kouta's got no doubt that that's what's happening now, with even haruto setting aside a donut to pay attention), "that you convened our not inconsiderable cavalcade supposedly _just_ to clean out your boyfriend's garage. obviously, that's not the whole truth of the matter." philip raises an eyebrow, not so much curious as he is waiting to be told that he's right.

at his partner's side, shoutaro simply shrugs at the wordless plea for help kouta sends him. "it doesn't take a detective to figure that much out."

"hey, dude, we know the drill too, yeah?" kousuke grins at him, not a trace of irritation at kouta for withholding the _actual_ reason he'd invited them over. "you do what you gotta for the people you care about." 

"and it's not like we mind!" glancing around at the other riders, gentaro coaxes from them various signs of agreement before turning back to kouta. "we got your back, and takatora-san's, too! for small problems, big problems, and anything in between!"

honestly, kouta feels overwhelmed by the outpouring support. he didn't doubt that his fellow riders would turn down the _real_ request he had up his sleeve, but at the same time, he hadn't been entirely comfortable with the thought of what he'd come to ask them for - especially not the selfishness of it, in the face of all the things they had on their plates. it's all he can do to say _thank you_ without getting choked up. 

gentaro reaches across the table to give him a bracing punch on his shoulder, and from the rest of the table come familiar reassurances without a trace of ill will.

"besides, significant other-lookout duty is, easily, the least difficult favor any of us has ever agreed to." shoutaro looks around the table, where the rest of the riders are nodding and where tsukasa is favoring the opposite wall with a thousand-yard stare, before sending kouta a thumb's up.

"and it's like eiji says, isn't it? riders have to help each other out." haruto smiles as he holds up a fist for kouta, and the simple truth pacifies kouta's worries enough for him to return the smile and bump his fist against haruto's.

surprisingly, the touching moment is broken by _gentaro_ , who he muses out loud, "speaking of eiji, he really ought to stop being such a hypocrite about his own catchphrase advice, i don't think he's gone to see anyone about his arm friend after gou." he punctuates his statement with a slurp of iced tea that echoes down the table only because of how everyone has turned to stare at him in shock.

"--- _senpai_ ," haruto croaks out, his voice a mix of exasperation and the tonal, two-syllable equivalent of ' _You did_ not _just say_ that'.

kouta grimaces, cautiously glancing at the door and feeling nothing but relief at the sight of it still shut, before venturing, "he's not, like, _wrong_ , though--" 

scattered murmuring supports kouta's tentative words, broken only by kousuke abruptly and jarringly yelling "ALRIGHT!" and slamming his hands on the table. nothing falls off, to the relief of the riders who immediately steadied the various dishes and glasses they could reach - but several voices still call kousuke's name sharply in a scolding tone that reminds kouta that he's in the company of more-or-less functional adults for how effective it is.

chastised but not enough to quiet him completely, kousuke sits down as quickly as he'd stood, and, after a beat, repeats himself without the potentially catastrophe-inducing movement. " _alright_. this settles it. next time we get together for something normal like this--"

\--"within the next five years, maybe," quips tsukasa, who's quickly shushed by shoutaro--

"-- _next time_ , we're getting hino _smashed_." kousuke finishes with an air of certainty kouta is honestly impressed by, given how he'd made absolutely no sense. as kousuke preens in the wake of his questionable plan, shoutaro asks the question on everyone else's mind. "how is that supposed to help anything?"

tsukasa snaps his fingers in understanding, "instead of tripping over ourselves trying to find a solution to his, ah, feathery little problem, we just commiserate with him over how sad he is."

 _that does_ not _sound like a plan_ , thinks kouta, who's actually done something similar before (chucky had thanked them, eventually, when they could all make coherent thoughts after a spectacular hangover).

"that sounds like a wonderful plan," says philip, eyes shining in anticipation. 

beside him, shoutaro sighs, "of course it does, partner." the look he sends to kousuke, which promises a threat kouta can't articulate, flies merrily over the head of its intended target, as kousuke and philip clasp hands over the table to seal the deal. tsukasa watches them, amused, while haruto bears the full force of gentaro's excitement about their next get-together. 

kouta has the vague thought that he should be doing some form of crowd control, but before he can decide which brewing storm to stop first (and which member of team impulse control he has to call), takatora, kiriya, and eiji arrive and conversation turns back to the mundane as if they hadn't just been planning the hangover of a lifetime for one of their own.

"uoh, takatora-san, you're glittering! so pretty!"

under the faintest dots of gold glitter, takatora blushes, and kouta decides that future-kouta can worry about future-eiji's fate. present-kouta had _duties_ to see to, and first among them included sneaking a kiss to his boyfriend's cheek when he pulls up a chair for him.

with kiriya in the seat across takatora and eiji at philip's right, the table is complete and sanada and tsubomi begin lifting the ornate lids from the equally ornate trays of food. the resounding ' _thanks for the food!_ ' might be the loudest one the kureshima estate has ever heard, but by the pleased, private smile sanada wears, kouta gathers it's not unwelcome.

the riders dig in with possibly less than perfect manners, which takatora doesn't make a fuss about and instead mimics in his own way. kouta finds his relaxed disposition impossibly cute, especially when he splits a breadstick with gentaro and haruto at the space-inclined rider's insistence.

("breadstick fortune telling!" 

"as a wizard and connoisseur of breads, i vouch in full confidence for breadstick fortune telling."

"then, i suppose there's no way i can refuse.") 

later on, in the middle of food passing hands and a ridiculously large cake steadily drifting in, slice by slice, philip commandeers takatora's phone and, with his baffled permission, adds him to the riders' group chat. kouta assures him he can mute it since he usually checks on the chat with the others' phones, but takatora doesn't seem too bothered by the additional constantly updating thread.

"this is tenkuuji-kun, isn't it?" kouta scoots his chair closer to takatora's to peer at the screen and grins. "yeah! with mayu-san and hongo-san. y'know, _the_ kamen rider." takatora's eyebrows go up very high at the name. "so _that's_ what you meant by 'grandkid duties'."

tsukasa makes a face over his slice of cake, "hongo's in town?" kouta nods, and then waves his hands to dispel the worry coming over the rest of the riders. "yeah, but just for a visit! mayu-san's got this recital happening soon…"

as kouta relays takeru's updates to the table, gentaro speaks up from takatora's other side to point out the other recent posts. there's a smile on takatora's face that kouta knows he's only vaguely aware of, and he can't help but be pleased by the sight _and_ the fact that it's there because takatora is being friendly with gentaro.

who, maybe because of the fact that takatora has been nothing but pleasant towards him, has no qualms about leaning into takatora's personal space as he scrolls up on takatora's phone. "uoh!! that's chase, kamen rider chaser, he's a super intense guy and he sucks at basketball but he's really cool!"

"he seems very intent on what he's watching," takatora says. "yeah yeah, he just got back a couple of months ago? hey, kiriya, when--"

"almost a year now, actually. but he was on the road for half that, and just got settled in tokyo like two months ago." kiriya takes another slice of cake for himself and adds, for takatora's benefit, "he's an android-type life form. that's a long story, i'll save it for our 3AM chats."

kouta taps his foot against takatora's under the table at that. a moment later, takatora's hand rests on his leg under the table, giving it a reassuring squeeze. to kiriya, takatora says, "don't make it sound like it's a habit. what would doctor hojo say if i told him you're not actually sleeping?"

" _slander_ and _lies_ ," kiriya counters, gesturing at takatora's general direction as he calls out to the rest of the table, "you all think he's just _so_ proper, don't you? well, i'll have you know _this guy_ \--"

"--is friends with you, anyway, so 'impropriety' is just a question of situational variance?" philip smiles at kiriya, a dot of icing on his chin. kouta bites his lip to stifle a giggle at kiriya's expression, but soon the other riders are laughing too and it feels only natural to join them.

"you're friends with me, too, buddy," kiriya says, comically threatening and serving only to make takatora's lips quirk into a smile. "if it weren't for the law of ooo--"

\--"the what?" eiji asks through puzzled chewing; (un)helpfully, tsukasa answers him, "your catchphrase." "but i don't have one?" kousuke reaches across the table and piles more food onto eiji's plate, "shh."--

"--i'd have broken out the dirt i've got on you and consolidated it with everyone else's."

pitched to carry down the table but addressing only kouta with a small smile on his face, takatora says, "now i understand why 'team impulse control' is an actual subset of your friend group."

"i actually can't wait for you to meet takeru and shinnosuke! i may have talked about you a lot in the chat." as he's pulling a large cut of meat onto his plate, haruto says, "'a lot' is an understatement, kouta."

next to him, kousuke snorts and tsukasa smiles serenely, "don't worry about making a good impression, takatora-san, kouta's taken care of that."

a moment passes. takatora stares at tsukasa, then at kouta, then back at tsukasa. 

"what." 

takatora's flat response sends gentaro giggling, which infects haruto in increments until _he's_ laughing too and spreading the giggles to kousuke, who half-collapses on tsukasa, who's trying to keep a straight face; for a few seconds he manages, having looked away from the toppling riders, only to turn and see kiriya's dead-eyed expression which sends him bursting into a guffaw of a laugh that has shoutaro and philip snickering and giggling in turns. 

when kiriya says "our resident cop has much to say about your _illegal activities_ , takatora, like _sleeping with your face smushed against a pillow_ ," eiji finally joins in the laughter that's taken over the table and shows no signs of subsiding. 

takatora takes one long look at the riders fallen to laughing fits around his table, and then at kouta, who's hidden behind his hands but still can't keep from peeking at takatora through his fingers, and sighs, his expression melting into a smile.

"somehow, i don't think 'illegal' applies when one is dating a god."

"no, see," kiriya gestures at kouta, something manic gleaming in his eyes as he says, " _god's_ the one who's got issues about it--"

"kouta?"

"--who wants more cake!!? i feel like more cake, _hey_ , gentaro, did takatora tell you he used your rocket switch once?"

" _for real??_ "

lunch persists for another hour and no one at the kureshima estate minds.

"gods, amirite?" kiriya grins up at takatora with an expression so smug, it invites him to be held at knife-point. it is, from what takatora has learned from their burgeoning friendship, an expression kiriya delights in being able to make. takatora hums as he looks down at him, unimpressed.

"mine is markedly different from yours."

" _eugh_ , don't call him that, don't make it _weird_!"

kiriya flaps his hands at him as they continue to make the trek back to the storage room. behind them walk the rest of the riders at a sedate pace, urged on their feet only because philip demanded for a recount of and the divvying of accountabilities of whatever artifacts remain unclaimed. 

"it'll probably be gone when we get back, you know," tsukasa pipes up. beside him, swiping through his camera roll, gentaro makes an inquiring hum and tsukasa answers, in full confidence, "i mean, daiki would have already made off with the most unique and interesting thing left in there, no doubt."

the thrill of being robbed and having nothing to say for it makes takatora perk up, just a little. "would he have liked to stay for some cake? since he couldn't make it to lunch."

"perhaps. the cake was good, he might want a slice or two. but," tsukasa asserts, "he's definitely around, i'm sure of it."

shoutaro, on his other side, placates him with a timely agreement, while philip and kousuke focus their attention on the documentation kousuke sorely needed after taking a large portion of takatora's grandfather's collections. eiji, too, who'd ended up with a bit more than the medals takatora trusts him to never return, is listening in from behind, walking in step with haruto and his fresh bag of donuts.

on takatora's other side, kouta fiddles with his phone and the latest addition to his list of conversations to keep an eye on. he's fielding questions from the other riders not present, and assuring someone using an icon of a bird wearing cartoon-sun glasses that - from what takatora could read in brief glances - 'gentaro is alright' and 'it's all free i promise'.

the notion that takatora would soon be facing a mostly empty storage room buoys him through the short walk and kiriya's chatter ("just make yourself free on a weekend - early morning or otherwise, i really think you and takeru will hit it off well!" "hn, so you foster inadvisable sleeping patterns with children, too." "yeah, what about it?"), and when they open the storage room to find more squares and rectangles of dust than actual boxes, takatora allows himself to sigh in satisfaction.

"i truly am grateful to---"

"aw, heck," gentaro frowns, surveying the room with his arms crossed, "we forgot to clean up." kousuke comes up to him, clapping a hand on his shoulder, "man, we needed to recharge! _now_ the clean up starts." nodding, philip folds the documents into his vest (and shoutaro's). "haruto, kiriya, if you would get the cleaning supplies?"

"just a moment." takatora holds up one hand to stop haruto from summoning his portal and uses the other to grip kiriya's sleeve so he stays still. the rest of the riders blink at him in askance, and takatora continues, "your work here is done. the artifacts have been cleared out, and i'm not asking you to clean the storage room."

"well, yes, you didn't ask," eiji says, already rolling up his sleeves, "but riders help each other out." various noises of agreement follow (even from tsukasa, who has to be elbowed in the side a little to join in); when takatora looks to kouta for support, he's telling haruto where the cleaning supplies are.

kiriya shakes off takatora's slackened hold, and, amused at the confused expression on his face, advises him, "just get used to it, buddy. i'm allowing you to call it 'boyfriend privileges' this one time."

the rest of takatora's protests are soon quieted by gentaro cheerfully announcing _"it's clean-up_ _time!"_ and dashing through the portal haruto has opened.

"you don't really mind, right?" kouta asks, now standing in the space beside takatora that kiriya had just pixelated out of. he's smiling even as he searches takatora's face for some sign of displeasure, and as their hands gravitate into each other's hold like magnets. kouta knows very well that he doesn't mind, but like most everything they communicate with each other he'd rather have takatora say so - which, considering the current situation, is the hard part.

takatora holds back the desire to bite his lip and give an inarticulable answer. he's not _displeased_ , but he does think this is much more than what he'd asked for (or, technically, agreed to, since kouta was the one who'd made the request to the riders). after some thought (and picking up on the cues kouta is shamelessly parading), he finally settles on the word he feels best describes his current predicament. 

"i'm feeling distinctly… _spoiled_." in contrast to takatora's slight frown, kouta's smile widens. " _good_. 'cause i am, you know, _spoiling_ you. thanks for noticing."

"kouta." the blush that spreads from takatora's cheeks to the tips of his ears surely can't be hidden by one hand, but being in the presence of riders who don't give a damn about his name allows takatora to try and cover his face anyway.

"aw, _babe_ ," kouta laughs, endlessly fond. takatora feels his hands cup his face and draw him down slightly, and then kouta's pressing a kiss to his forehead, and takatora's sure he can't get any redder than he already is.

\--he has to correct himself immediately when he hears kousuke cooing at them and kiriya groaning just as he pixelates back.

"alright, _alright_ , god, enough with the mushy stuff, save it for when you crazy kids are alone, yeah? everyone else, grab a broom and dustpan and a mop - boss man with the books says we gotta make this place shine!"

(in the midst of the riders' chorus of agreements, tsukasa grumbles that he hadn't signed up for this much work, only to be set to task by shoutaro when he tells him to "quit moping because daiki-san didn't show up and grab a broom.")

some time later, well into the game the riders had made of their efforts to clean (gentaro swears this is how he gets his students to make an entire gym shine), takatora's phone chimes out with a notification and forces him to call for a temporary cease fire. the ringtone is oren's, and for some reason, takatora is gripped with a portentous sense to open the message immediately. philip, ever curious of the abrupt change in his teammate's expression, wanders over from his side of the imaginary 'net' and peers at takatora's phone as he taps on the notification.

under a picture of a blond biting into a fruit tart while a large, blue and black gun sat in plain sight on his table, oren asks: [ 🍈🤴 is this one of your friends? he seems odd ]. 

"ah, so _that's_ where daiki-san's been."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> \- the rat ring and the ookami, kuma, and kitsune (OKuNe) medals are held in joint custody with @DangerousCommieSubversive and i'm very glad and grateful for the chance to use them in this fic and in future fics to come! specifically the OKuNe medals, keep an eye out for those.  
> \- kouta doesnt have his own phone, he just borrows other people's since there's like, zero charging ports @ the inves/helheim planet  
> \- chase's return is the noodle incident of this au. no i will not elaborate.  
> \- i love the entirety of the clear out but in this particular chapter, i am attached to the riders falling into a laughing fit, it is, the most bestest thing ever <3  
>  \- spot the meme references!! im proud of those 


	6. the aftermath

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> the riders' work is done, now comes the goodbye's - and, some explanations.

###  _earlier that same day, at charmant:_

jounouchi watches the 'special' customer from behind the cake display and cannot, for all his instincts, understand why his mentor seemed so skittish about him on sight alone. 

the gun-shaped contraption he'd brazenly laid on the table aside (jounouchi has trained under a man who resembled an iron maiden, he can set aside _a lot of things_ ), he'd demolished tray after tray of samplers in between the morning rush and lunch service without fanfare. the table he'd chosen kept him away from other nosy customers, he spoke amiably with the waiters who refilled his glass and brought him his orders, and he hadn't pulled out a phone or a laptop anything resembling work the whole time he'd sat at table.

really, if it weren't for the gun-thing, jounouchi would have thought him a contender for his mentor's favorite customer. it didn't hurt that he was pretty, too, blond and slim and clearly a connoisseur of the finer things in life if his clothes were any indication. the way he ate is of note, too, but for less publicly acceptable reasons, and one or two waiters may have almost slipped up spectacularly if jounouchi hadn't set them straight.

of course, one could only set the gun-thing aside for so long. it's mid-afternoon now, and the other customers have become noticeably antsy about him. jounouchi is left with no other recourse but to call his mentor back to the front of the shop.

the first thing the customer says after oren greets him is: "it wasn't initially my priority to visit charmant, you see? i'm expected elsewhere but thanks to _this_ ," he gestures at the fresh sampler platter of fruit tarts in front of him, "my plans have been _completely_ derailed, and there's no room in me for complaints." with pointed deliberation, the customer glances at jounouchi before looking up to smile at oren.

"my utmost compliments to you and your staff, _mister dangerous_."

 _ah_. now jounouchi gets it. the hand not curled into a fist on the counter falls to his pocket - his _empty_ pocket (it's always empty but that's never stopped him), and jounouchi starts a quick mental calculation of how fast mitsuzane or zack could be called over, should things go awry.

"to receive such words is an honor," oren says warmly, despite the glint in his eye and the considering tilt of his head. "may i know by whom they are so generously given?"

the customer's smile, perfectly pleasant before this moment, turns perfectly _smug_. a picture of beauty, still, but now it makes jounouchi's hand itch for a hammer. 

"just an appreciative visitor, nothing more and nothing less."

their face off ends there, but jounouchi catches oren typing a message on his phone seconds after he ducks back into the kitchen. jounouchi recognizes the receiver, and braces for the arrival of what mitsuzane had claimed as his brother's 'new friends'.

###  _presently, at the kureshima estate's empty storage room:_

"he's been _where_ , all this time?"

framing the look of shock and disbelief on tsukasa's face is the smudge of dust from where he'd been hit by the makeshift rag-ball gentaro had been tossing around. he'd been fully prepared to retaliate, if not for takatora reading aloud the message on his phone at philip's insistence and showing the riders the attached image.

tsukasa doesn't grab takatora's phone from him but he does continue to gape at it for an extended moment that draws mild concern from the riders around him.

"tsukasa?" shoutaro ventures, waving a hand in front of his senior rider's face, "alright there?"

tsukasa's jaw snaps shut so quickly, gentaro and kousuke wince at the movement. "yes. everything's fine." glancing at the riders who'd been openly gawking at him, tsukasa nods and says, "well. everyone, it was good to see you off the battlefield for once. see you next world's end, or just before." 

a flurry of goodbye's follow, and then tsukasa is shaking takatora's hand briskly, "thank you for the lunch, and the unexpectedly pleasant chore. sorry i can't stay to finish up, but i have a pastry shop to find."

sensing tsukasa's mounting - distress? panic? - takatora offers, "i can give you the address."

"that would be great, thank you." a beat, and then tsukasa is handing takatora a business card for a place called 'hikari studio': "i can't promise that he'll still be robbing you, but let me know if you want anything 'disappeared under mysterious circumstances'."

"... thank you, i appreciate that."

###  _at charmant, a short segue following kadoya tsukasa_

grim and determined, tsukasa makes his way to charmant following takatora's directions. it's a quick drive (he might have been speeding, might have been abusing rider-specific powers) and he arrives at the pastry shop still dusty and disheveled in a way that only people recently involved in large-scale cleaning endeavors are.

the waiters stare at him as he enters. the customers gawk as he strides across the floor. the guy at the counter, ringing up other customers, glances at him once and flags down someone to have a quick and hushed exchange with. tsukasa doesn't usually cause this much fanfare when he goes places, but that inconsistency doesn't interest him at the moment.

what _does_ is the blond sitting alone at the table farthest from the door, white coat thrown over the chair to his right and diendriver laid plain as you please next to a half empty platter of dessert samplers. when tsukasa sits himself across him, kaito daiki is licking frosting off his index finger and smiling like the fabled goddess who threw the world for a ride with a fruit and a question.

"daiki."

"tsukasa," daiki says, delight in every crinkle at the corners of his eyes, "would you like a bite?" a forkful of cake with a strawberry nestled in the middle is held up to tsukasa, and daiki smiles too widely to be simply pleasant.

tsukasa leans over and opens his mouth, and allows daiki to feed him the bite of cake. it's delicious, but perhaps not as much as the gleam in daiki's eyes as he laughs and asks if tsukasa wants another one.

"we have time enough to indulge, don't we?"

considering the nervous waiter hovering behind daiki and the trays of dessert samplers they're holding, tsukasa assumes the question is entirely rhetorical.

"sure, why not."

(they have exactly forty-five minutes left, before oren gently and courteously shoos them out. that he does it with an extra dessert sampler for takeout sweetens the gesture, and daiki promises to visit again with less threatening intentions, solemnly informing oren that his cakes are the greatest treasure he's found in this world of gaim. tsukasa doesn't explain, too busy on the map app on his phone and holding daiki's takeout box for him.)

###  _presently, at the kureshima estate's clean storage room_

even down one pair of helping hands, the unprecedented 'clean up' part of the storage room clear out goes quickly and without incident. in fact, if pressed, takatora might even call the afternoon... _enjoyable_.

earlier on, they'd split into teams and taken turns deciding the game they'd be mangling to fit their circumstances. the only caveat had been the ban on rider-specific powers, which still left their natural athleticism to shine through. since kouta invariably wanted to score a win off his boyfriend, philip claimed himself as takatora's teammate throughout the games, which then left shoutaro to fall in with gentaro or eiji (or both). in their latest game (a mix of dodgeball and volleyball), kiriya had scrambled to join them, and takatora hadn't even complained.

at present, with how they're leading by a wide margin, takatora considers this team up a success, despite their methods. the rag-ball barrage he'd narrowly dodged is easy for kiriya to avoid by pixelating, and since it doesn't _cause_ his pixelation as philip had argued, this doesn't count as an out according to the rules of the game made entirely on the fly. kousuke, first to be struck down despite his claims of innate athleticism, dutifully awards them a point, and takatora holds his hands up for kiriya and philip's enthusiastic high five's. 

across the net, shoutaro, gentaro, and eiji huddle together for a serious conference, while haruto and kouta, at their insistence and because they'd been taken down after kousuke, use their rider-specific powers to reach the ceiling cobwebs and other dusty nooks and crannies. the next player to get tapped out would swap places with them, except for takatora who's only allowed to be the referee if he does go down.

"boyfriend privileges," kiriya repeats, pouting. "we gotta do more chores like this, i'd like to see you get down and dirty like the rest of us peons, takatora."

"perhaps when tenkuuji temple needs cleaning," philip suggests, "i've always wanted to visit it at length, as well as meet with the eyecons. do you think _their_ rooms would need cleaning?"

kiriya attempts to rest his elbow on takatora's shoulder as he thinks (and only barely manages to do so even when takatora deliberately lowers it for him). "that's a good question, actually? i hadn't noticed the last time i visited, but we should ask." the prospect of meeting more riders in mundane settings seems to delight philip to no end, and takatora shares in his excitement with a simple nod and a promise to keep his weekends free.

a whistle calls their attention and, at kousuke's signal, they scramble into position to resume the game. takatora had set his phone and watch aside - along with the riders' transformation trinkets, where it could be removed - and so can't reliably tell what time it is, but he finds that this doesn't bother him as much as it usually would. 

instead, his focus is on striking out at least one member of the opposite team, and, if he were to guess at the intent behind the twinkle in gentaro's eyes, avoid getting struck out himself.

somehow, _some way_ , the storage room is both emptied _and_ cleaned at the end of the day. as they leave it and head for the patio, takatora still can't wrap his head around how playing several rounds of odd ball games could have resulted in the storage room being dusted, mopped, and generally refreshed. as kiriya keeps reminding him, his "boyfriend privileges" are clearly greater than he'd ever imagined--

("i am _so_ jealous." "now, just because _your_ god is ineffectual--" " _stop making it weird_.")

\--and kisaragi gentaro is, likewise, a most effective teacher, having wrangled much of the games himself. 

"i'm truly gratef--" takatora doesn't get to finish saying his thanks, as gentaro bodily lifts him in a hug that clears his feet at least a few inches from the patio floor, barely inconvenienced by his weight. though takatora could perhaps free himself with the arm that hadn't been pinned to his side by gentaro's arms, he finds himself unwilling to do so. 

a quick glance at the riders around them tells him they share the same thought - as when it was haruto who'd been the focus of gentaro's attentions, none of the riders look even close to offering to help takatora, who has to half-return the hug to avoid toppling over. even kouta just stares at them with a dopey grin and someone else's phone recording the moment.

"this was _so fun_! thanks so much for all the stuff and the lunch and the games, takatora-san!" gentaro doesn't turn him into a ragdoll like he'd done with haruto, but he does squeeze takatora to punctuate his words, jostling him enough to loosen the small ponytail he'd pulled his hair into. 

takatora tries to say that he should be the one thanking gentaro, but the space-inclined rider only hugs him tighter and passes him off to haruto and kousuke, who, to takatora's relief, don't make to hug him off his feet. 

still, when takatora tries to thank them, he's interrupted by a bag of donuts and a hand clasping his shoulder with a firm grip. "say no more, takatora-san, _we_ are super thankful for everything. _seriously_." haruto nods, adding, "the fukui university history and arts departments are going to want to make a fuss about honoring your contributions, but i'll talk them down to an informal faculty dinner instead. emphasis on _informal_."

"... of course. then, i'll await your invitation." at this point, the onus of a mere verbal acceptance is familiar to takatora, but he can't recall when he'd ever felt _fond_ of the people essentially forcing him to say yes. kousuke pats his shoulder one more time before ushering haruto to where philip and shoutaro are receiving gentaro's enthusiastic attention, leaving takatora to the next person in the loop of riders exchanging goodbyes before taking off.

eiji smiles warmly as he takes takatora's hands in his own, "thanks for letting us help you out today. i'm sure everyone else is going to say it but - it's been fun. we don't get many chances to do something so normal."

considering the commonality that had brought these riders together in the first place, takatora isn't surprised. "i'm glad you enjoyed yourself somehow. though, truly, i should be thanking _you_ , in particular."

"wha-- oh! right." eiji pats his pocket, reassuring takatora, "i'll let you know if anything comes up with your grandfather's--- _er_ , the uh, the medals."

that's all well and good and very thoughtful of eiji, but takatora wants to make one thing clear. he takes eiji's hands in between his, and before eiji could verbalize the question that has him glancing at their hands and then back up, takatora cuts him off.

"eiji-san. the only thing i need to know is if these medals are liable to trigger a world-ending scenario. otherwise," here takatora pauses, making sure that eiji is paying close attention to what he's saying. " _otherwise_ , i do _not_ need to know _anything_."

between them, kougami kousei's ghost laughs and says 'happy birthday! to new friendships!' - or something to that effect. they don't talk about their shared vision, and takatora believes it for the best, as long as they agree.

"...right."

after eiji takes his leave, takatora immediately has to contend with kiriya's obnoxious grinning and glittering, a facet of his bugster status that he clearly has no qualms about abusing. "hey, takatora!"

"kujou."

"aw, come _on_ , i do your dirty work for you and you still won't call me by name? i'm hurt!"

because it's kiriya, takatora doesn't stop himself from rolling his eyes at his antics. there's a certain freedom in his "acquaintanceship" with the meddlesome pathologist, and kiriya always encourages takatora to exercise it even at his expense -- which is exactly what he's doing right now, to kiriya's visible delight. the pixel-sparkles are telling and obvious, and takatora doesn't protest when some drift around him and disappear with comically loud pops. 

"i thought you were alright with name-calling, as long as it fit," takatora says. kiriya nods thoughtfully at this observation. "ehh, you're right, i'd be a hypocrite if i said otherwise… right, _babe_?"

takatora's glare and crossed arms do nothing to intimidate kiriya, who just snickers and pretends to wipe a tear from the corner of his eye. "oh man, you gotta _stop_ with the looks, i'm gonna die…"

"then perish."

at that, kiriya promptly doubles over laughing. takatora quells the other riders' concerns with a placid wave and a mild insistence that kiriya is fine, he's just laughing at his own jokes again. as this is a regular occurrence, the riders take his word for it and return to their own conversations with barely a glance at kiriya, who's only staying off his knees by dint of takatora taking pity on him and lending him his hand to hold onto.

once kiriya has laughed to his heart's content (catching his breath isn't an issue), he straightens up and resumes grinning at takatora, perfectly pleased with himself and how he's 'corrupted' takatora's vernacular. "so. talk to you later?" 

takatora makes a point to look at where kouta is shaking gentaro's and eiji's hands simultaneously before letting his gaze fall back to kiriya and answering, with deliberate coyness in his tone, "maybe, if i'm not occupied."

kiriya's expression curdles and he groans loudly into his hands. " _please_ , spare me the details and just, call the CR. i'd rather deal with the troll in the box than this." dutifully, takatora does just that and waves goodbye to kiriya as he bursts into pixels and enters his phone, set to ride the 'data stream' as he called it back to seito.

a notification catches takatora's attention, and when he taps on it, it brings him to his chat with oren. below a picture of tsukasa being fed cake by kaito daiki, oren writes: [ they just left and i think the blond one is going to be a frequent customer ] 

as he composes a reply, philip and shoutaro come up to him, and philip proves that his personal space is now free real estate for the riders as he leans against takatora's arm to read the messages on display. as takatora scrolls up to show him the image that accompanied oren's message, philip hums and pats his shoulder reassuringly. "there's no harm in it. although, it makes me want to try charmant's confections as well." 

takatora can have something delivered for dinner, if they'd like to stay, but philip refuses with a shake of his head. "we need to be going, tomorrow is family picnic day. we are bringing the terui family to a park because shoutaro wants to see the new fuuto-kun attraction being featured there." remembering the fuuto-kun mascot and shoutaro's fondness for it, takatora feels no ill-will at being refused, and says so to shoutaro to save him from fumbling for an excuse.

similarly, the other riders beg off his offer to stay for dinner, each with genuine regret. they make hasty but fervent promises to stay longer next time, and takatora contends with another round of thanks for the afternoon where nothing other than actually cleaning out the kureshima's storage room happened. 

"next time maybe we can go to a real haunted house!" gentaro sounds so excited about the prospect, takatora almost apologizes for the storage room being relatively ghost-free. 

the riders also make sure to let takatora know that they look forward to the next time they can 'hang out', maybe even with the others who weren't present today. kouta begins listing off all the other riders they know who are on the same planet, and then abruptly interrupts himself to ask, "actually, has anybody seen build around?" 

"oh, they're still getting their identities sorted out!" gentaro explains, "y'know, on account of the same faces and all."

bless shoutaro, who takes one look at takatora's frown of concern and reassures him, "don't worry takatora-san, it's all legal." when he adds a doubtful "i think" under his breath, takatora chooses to ignore it.

takatora gets hugged off his feet a second time by gentaro (his reason: "just because!"), who heads off on his rocket after transforming. kousuke gives him another fervent thanks before he and haruto drive off along with eiji, who apparently also has business in fukui. shoutaro and philip are the last to leave, the latter with a cheerful reminder that they'll be seeing each other at the next investors' meeting.

after what feels like an age, kouta stands by takatora's side again, right where he should be. his hand is a warm weight on the small of takatora's back, and so is his smile, directed solely at takatora. "today worked out well, didn't it?"

it did, takatora agrees. better than he'd expected, or thought to hope for. the storage room is cleaned out, he's made new friends, potential catalysts of disastrous events have been taken from his hands, and--

"you look happy," takatora notes, settling into kouta's hold the way he knows kouta likes. the hand on his back turns into an arm around his waist, and, still smiling, kouta smushes his face against takatora's shoulder as he nods. "i am! you look happy, too."

kouta's simple joy is infectious, and takatora doesn't fight the smile that lifts the corners of his mouth, or the urge to cover kouta's hand with his own as he replies, "of course i am." and as he leans in to press a kiss to that impossibly bright smile, takatora adds, in the privacy of their shared thoughts, _i'm with you_.

with all the riders having gone and left, and with mitsuzane out with the beat riders until morning, sanada insists on at least having kouta stay for dinner. takatora doesn't echo sanada's not-quite-request, but he doesn't have to, seeing as how they're both just slightly beholden to the well-meaning steward's whims. 

that, and the fact that tsubomi had already set the table with the champagne that takatora likes (and that kouta likes tasting on takatora because, as he said, "the stuff's not my thing, really, but _you_ are definitely my taste, so, it's fine,") sitting in an ice bucket, decided their agreement for them.

dinner is a private, quiet affair, and kouta spends most of it staring at takatora, looking settled and pleased in a way that has everything to do with takatora occasionally commenting on something he'd noticed about the riders and found amusing or interesting. kouta doesn't hesitate to share stories about them, but his delight when hearing takatora say that he wouldn't mind seeing them again is incomparable.

it buoys him all through dinner, the last of the 'short' walks they'd be taking to takatora's room, and even takatora preparing for bed. when takatora walks into his home office, he finds kouta tending the bonsai there, and takatora isn't surprised that it's grown twice its original height and is blooming abundantly.

"you're very happy about something." the observation draws kouta's attention from the bonsai, and his smile turns a touch sheepish under takatora's considering stare. "uh, aha... yeah i-- i guess i am? it was a good day, so, y'know…"

as kouta trails off, takatora says nothing. knowing what's gotten him so giddy would be nice, but takatora won't press - although he unintentionally does so by continuing to stand at the doorway, drying his hair with a towel and looking at kouta without judgment or coaxing. 

after a minute or so, kouta deflates against the couch with a sigh. "alright, alright, i give up! i'll tell you, just, put the eyes away please."

bemused, takatora walks over to stand behind the couch to look down at kouta's resigned expression. "i'm not entirely sure what you mean by that."

"i meant: i love you, i'll tell you the real reason i asked the riders over, so _please_ don't blink your pretty eyes at me like that." 

_the real reason…?_

"i had… ulterior motives, when i asked the other riders for help." 

seated on the bed across takatora, kouta twiddles his thumbs and bites his lip like someone awaiting a conviction. it's only when takatora takes his hands and holds them against his face that he's startled out of his nerves, and even then his smile is still a shade uncertain.

takatora wants to tell him that whatever those motives were, there's no reason he'd be upset with kouta - but that would be disregarding said motives entirely, and takatora values anything kouta shares with him. so instead, he presses a kiss to each of kouta's palms and says, "go on."

kouta nods, swallows hard, and takes a deep breath. 

"i'm pretty sure eiji started the whole thing - kinda hypocritical, but, that's a rider for you - and everyone else just went along with it since when we needed help, who else _could_ we ask?" his fingers find an anchor in the locks of takatora's hair, and when takatora leans into the touch, the corners of kouta's eyes crinkle familiarly and his smile brightens. 

"anyway, so, that's the first bit: _riders should help each other out_. and yeah, usually that means when our neighborhood's on fire, we think, _maybe_ , the other guys will notice and ride over. maybe even bring a bucket, although just a helping hand would be nice."

takatora thinks of gentaro showing him the astroswitches, and suppresses a smile at the literalness of the thought. "and the next bit?" 

"the next bit is just me being… really selfish," kouta answers. his hand reaches around to cup the back of takatora's head, and takatora doesn't resist the pull that leads him to meet kouta's mouth with his own. the movement is natural and gentle, and though the kiss is just a press of their lips together, he feels his face flush at the tenderness of it, at how kouta holds him in place just a moment longer afterwards.

intimately close, enough for takatora to see the flicker of red and gold in his eyes, kouta continues as if telling takatora a secret: "you needed help, so i wanted to get it for you."

_and it's just that simple, isn't it?_

"...thank you, kouta." takatora never tires of saying this particular phrase to kouta, who deserves it and more. though with the way he smiles, it's clear that he thinks he's already gotten all that he'd think to ask for from takatora. "you're always welcome." 

the instinct that kouta's expression ignites is incontestable, so takatora obeys it, closing the meager distance between them with the simple act of lifting his face just slightly, just enough for his lips to meet kouta's again. like this, it's easy to tell when kouta's smile widens, and the thought that such a small thing could delight him so much spurs takatora to bring himself even closer.

chuckling, kouta breaks the kiss to smile up at takatora, "i mean, i'm not complaining, but let me finish explaining before you, ah, thank me some more, okay babe?" pacified by the arms that kouta wraps around his waist and comfortable where he's sat on kouta's lap under scrutiny of his red and gold gaze, takatora murmurs his agreement and settles down to continue listening.

"you know i worry about you, yeah?"

"i know." takatora might even say that kouta tended to hover when he worried, couching his gratitude in fond teasing, but he leaves the thought alone for now and instead assures kouta, "the feeling is mutual."

"thank you." kouta's smile brightens a notch further, and he squeezes his arms around takatora's waist to punctuate his gratitude. he doesn't imply that it's pointless to worry about a god or a kamen rider, both more than capable of handling whatever disaster comes their way - in fact, the expression kouta wears and the sincerity of his words makes takatora think that it comforts him somehow, to be regarded as someone who still invites concern despite what he is.

"sometimes, though… sometimes, i _worry_." kouta squeezes his arms again, bi-colored eyes flickering momentarily to something at takatora's right, and takatora does not lend the thought ( _which time is he thinking about? helheim, seito, torkia?_ ) wings or feet. he keeps his focus on kouta, who steels himself with a breath before continuing.

"the wildest things happen to us, and you're not exactly the best at looking out for yourself." 

takatora can't argue - he has a not insignificant amount of recent wounds and bruises that support the fact, and the impetus is only there because he gets defensive - so he nods, in agreement and to indicate his understanding of where kouta's train of thought is headed. 

"so the riders are… a safety net?" he doesn't say 'guards' because that would be trivializing them, and each of them were worth more than such a paltry designation. "right. everyone's got their own territory to watch out for, but they can get anywhere they have to be - _if_ they have to be."

 _if_ , not _when_. the simple distinction quells whatever protests takatora might have made in a heartbeat.

"i'm not always around," kouta draws circles on the small of takatora's back, eyes now fully red and gold fixed on his face. "i _can't_ always be around. you get that, and it's a relief that we both understand - but… but i just wanted…"

"some peace of mind," takatora offers quietly, reaching up to brush kouta's hair from his forehead and touch his lips to the wrinkled brow there. it smooths out after a moment, and kouta sighs, nodding slightly. 

"nicol and oren are great, and peko looking out for you is awesome. i just, i wanted something that i put there _myself_ , something that'll get things done if anything needs doing at all."

the thought occurs to takatora that he's being spoiled yet again. but, this time, it's easier to see the obverse - kouta is spoiling _himself_ \- and acknowledge the selfishness kouta had just admitted to. inviting the riders here and forging a bond between them and takatora ultimately served _kouta's_ goals, above everything else, and takatora doesn't think he's ever enjoyed someone scheming behind his back as much as this.

he supposes it was bound to be different, with someone he trusts - and someone who trusts him.

"takatora? what, uh, what do you think…?" 

in the momentary silence of takatora feeling an immeasurable wealth of fondness for this self-proclaimed selfish god, the wrinkle in kouta's brow had returned and a pinched expression had stolen over his face. which wouldn't do, for the person who'd given takatora so much happiness in just one day alone.

"i think it's a good idea." 

another kiss is pressed onto kouta's forehead, on the bridge of his nose, and lastly, against the wavering line of his mouth. ending there, and with all the affection he can muster, takatora says, "thank you."

this time, kouta's "you're welcome," is laden with relief, echoed in how he sighs and relaxes against takatora's chest. takatora allows him a few moments to savor the feeling, before adding, "also… kiriya won't know what to do with the knowledge that you trust him." 

though muffled, kouta's surprised laugh rings out with unmistakable glee. " _babe_."

"please, let me listen in when you tell him." through his continued chuckles, kouta agrees. when next he looks up at takatora, there's a twinkle in his eyes that's neither red nor gold, just a warm brown with speckles of either color - and above that, contentment in the laugh lines at the corners of his eyes and around his mouth.

"that's another thing, actually." at takatora's inquiring hum, kouta elaborates, "i thought it'd be great, if my friends could be your friends, too."

takatora thinks of gentarou again, and eiji, kousuke and haruto, shoutaro and philip, kiriya and tsukasa and the riders he hadn't met but who are now reachable with just a few taps - and agrees.

and then, because kouta _did_ bring it up--

"does that include telling your friends that i'm _'so cute, it's illegal'_?"

matching takatora's seriousness, kouta replies, " _babe_. i asked the law about this." 'the law', as shoutaro had informed him, being tomari shinnosuke, kamen rider drive. 

"you've preemptively ruined the moment i meet tomari-san." based on how the other riders had reacted, takatora doesn't even want to think about the kind of impression kouta's direct junior rider now holds of him.

if he scrolled up in the rider's groupchat, he'd probably see _exactly_ what they'd all been referring to when they mentioned kouta 'taking care' of introducing him, but that would do absolutely nothing to salvage his reputation, and though takatora doesn't have cause to make much about it, he'd hoped their first meeting could have at least been civil.

stubbornly, kouta pouts up at takatora and announces, "i feel absolutely no guilt. my boyfriend is cute. i'm right, and i should say it."

there would be no beating kouta at this, takatora knows. convincing him against saying something complimentary about takatora was like talking him out of asking about zawame's investors' meetings in a semi-subtle attempt at finding out which old crone was causing takatora grief - futile, unavoidable, and something that takatora actually likes, under layers of propriety and posturing.

so, takatora cuts his losses and changes tracks. with a faux put-upon sigh, he applies himself to the task of kissing the pout off kouta's lips and then, once that goal is achieved, to expressing his gratitude as effusively and as thoroughly as possible.

when kouta tries to protest, takatora quiets him with another kiss and a rare ultimatum: "if you get to be selfish, then so do i." 

recognizing how their "selfishness" mirrored each other's perfectly, kouta relents and allows himself to be thanked without another word otherwise.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> \- no i havent seen bravo vs gridon and at this point im just gonna go see it with blind eyes bc im comfortable. im comfortable. EDIT: i've seen bravo vs gridon. this fic is not compliant to anything that happened therein. except maybe takatora's fluffy hair? god i love kubota yuki's fluffy hair.  
> \- also no i havent seen decade yet but kaito daiki is the stray cat i lovingly leave food out for. yes it has everything to do with totani kimito.  
> \- eiji's business @ fukui is with a certain professor who likes masks. kuuga has left an indelible mark on my soul and everyone who survived the ordeal with the grongi WILL have a good life.  
> \- as i was writing the last bit, i thought to myself "man this is getting too mushy" and then, almost immediately, "GOOD. they DESERVE to be MUSHY!" which is a lesson in satisfying yourself with whatever you decide to do. 
> 
> the epilogues, plural, are their own entire chapter for _reasons_.


	7. epilogues

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> and onward, to the future.

###  _side zawame: the arrival of mister dangerous the second, or - "from torkia, with love"_

on the morning of yukimura belial grünstein's arrival at his destination, he isn't struck by some portentous energy or turned suspicious by a whisper in the wind - instead, recalling date akira's description, he agrees that 'nice' is the best word for zawame city. with buildings shaping its skyline and people flowing from here to there, zawame looks no different from any other city in the world.

as belial wanders, unmindful of the glances thrown his way, he notes how even the sounds are the same. the rumble of public transportation and the drone of a thousand conversations of strangers are comforting in their anonymity. even the colorful dancers entertaining transient crowds at an outdoor stage could have been a sight from any other country. belial stays there for a while, watching a crew in black and red be joined by another in black and yellow, enjoying their show and their audience's appreciative calls for an encore.

come noon, belial decides that his eyes have feasted enough and that it's time his stomach does the same. before pursuing his true mission, it was best that he familiarize himself with the lay of the land and keep his energy up, and if he's charmed by a fluttering banner proclaiming a new host of desserts at a place called ' _charmant_ ', well, it's only a happy coincidence.

jounouchi looks up. and _up_. charmingly bright smile aside, the combat fatigues aren't helping this guy's chances at being _inconspicuous_. someone murmurs, "is that a JSDF cosplay?" and is rejoined with "so weird." jounouchi would chime in with his own observation, but he's in no position to be so relaxed.

lifting a practiced, polite expression to his face, he says instead, " _bonjour_. how may i delight you today?"

tall guy smiles wide with his pretty mouth (he has dimples, jounouchi thinks, _hm_ ) and says, "i _was_ just thinking about getting some fruit tarts, but if you want to _delight_ me, i can think of a few _other_ things you can do…" he doesn't quite loom, but the tone of his voice is as unmistakable as the once-over he gives jounouchi.

the distinct rattle of the curtains separating the front of the store from the contained chaos of the kitchen tells jounouchi that someone has exercised commendable survival instincts and has gone to call their boss. they all have duties in _situations_ , and right now jounouchi's is to keep his 5-star customer-service smile from falling. even if tall guy with dimples isn't a _situation_ like takatora's friend-adjacent was, he's still far from being _safe_. 

"if it troubles you to choose, we have various platters featuring themed samples of our most popular offerings and special arrangements." in times of duress, explaining the seven available platters takes about two minutes a page, which was time enough for jounouchi's mentor to arrive.

tall-and-dimpled looks surprised to have his flirtation rebuffed, but not entirely put out. "special arrangements, you say?" he rests a hand on the counter and leans in, his gaze riveted on jounouchi instead of the menu spread before him. "do i get to say who'll be serving me?"

the smile jounouchi deflects with is blinding. "particular requests such as yours are entertained at the discretion of the owner. may i interest you in our fruit festival platter? it was created in partnership with druper's, another notable establishment in the city."

tall-and-dimpled opens his mouth as if to answer, but jounouchi beats him to the punch and starts his spiel. _two minutes a page_ , he reminds himself; the first page even has an introductory narration (penned by yuri, approved by his mentor). jounouchi talks over any sign of interruption, keeping to a steady but quick cadence, never faltering even when he hears the tell-tale curtains rattling again to announce the arrival of charmant's owner.

"i'd heard we have an esteemed guest awaiting service," oren declares, poised and flamboyant as always as he stands at the doorway. jounouchi doesn't sigh in relief - too well trained for something so unprofessional - but he does dial his smile back to something actually pleasant. " _shishou_ , i was just describing our special platters to our--guest."

jounouchi nearly falters on naming tall-and-dimpled, but it's _oren_ who breaks protocol to gape at the customer - who, for some reason, is wearing the same expression of utter shock.

"... _sarge?_ "

" _belial?_ "

the silence following is heavy, not with intent, but with _confusion_. even the customers behind tall-and-dimpled are wading in it, and jounouchi recognizes when a split decision has to be made. as the only person who isn't in some way frozen or boggled out of their mind, it falls to him to make it. 

to oren, he says, "shall i have tea brought up to your office, _shishou_?" the question brings oren back to the present, and he answers with a nod and a smile and nothing more indicative of whatever is going on under his headwrap. 

to tall-and-dimpled: "around the display case, lift the countertop to get in. _hurry_." the last word, hissed low and through a smile just starting to sharpen at the edges, sends the strange customer moving. 

it takes but seconds for him and oren to disappear past the curtains, and jounouchi symbolically closes the menu spread after them as if to say 'that's that'.

(somehow, though, he highly doubts his own proclamation.)

that belial is here on a quest for love doesn't surprise oren in the least. similarly, after learning of oren's ownership of the pastry shop in detail, belial doesn't find it out of character for him to have pursued the path in question.

what _does_ get a rise from both of them is an unexpected commonality:

"did you say you came here at the behest of a _melon prince_?"

"the most _regal_ , and _beautiful_ , and _dangerous_ prince, with a jawline that could cut diamonds and dark eyes you can't help but drown in, and the grace of a trained fighter, and _thighs--_ "

the descriptions form a clear picture in oren's mind and he makes a sound of deep, true regret, forcing belial to interrupt himself with an inquiring noise. 

"forget it, kid. melon prince is, regrettably, _taken_." oren shakes his head slightly, eyes cast outside the window for a solemn moment -- and then he snaps back to belial, pointing one sharp and lacquered nail at him. "and if he _ever_ breaks up with that jumped up little aquarius, he's _mine_."

before belial can ask _who_ this aquarius is and _why_ even _oren pierre alfonzo_ had to relinquish a prize as great as the melon prince is to them, the door to the office opens and the "cute brunette" - as belial had privately dubbed him - brings in a tray of tea.

"my apprentice," oren introduces with a flourish, "a work-in-progress of sufficient talent." 

his name is jounouchi hideyasu, belial learns, and he's apparently been with oren long enough to recognize the fondness in his words to preen about it. when belial invites him to sit and join them, jounouchi declines with the same glittering, professional smile he'd worn at the counter, and makes an excuse about the front of the shop descending into hopelessness if he were to leave it alone for much longer.

belial pouts when the door closes behind him, and oren makes a strange noise behind his tea cup.

"sarge?"

"nothing, it's nothing. now, about your mission..."

reminded of his _raison d'être_ , belial straightens up in his seat. "i'm grateful for your advice, sarge, _but_ \- i will not rest until i see for myself what snare the melon prince is caught in."

"i suppose i shouldn't be surprised." oren sighs and stirs more sugar into his tea. "you're setting yourself up for heartbreak, belial."

it's touching that oren cares enough to give him a warning. regardless -- "my heart's aim is true, and whether or not my quest will end as such is for me to see through."

bemused, oren can only shake his head at belial's unshakable resolve. "do as you will," he says, which, under the circumstances, is as much of an encouragement as belial could hope for.

"of course, sarge!"

###  _side ooo: medals, the mysterious combo, and a choice_

eiji counts the medals - one, two, three - and is amused at the serendipity of them coming out together again for all of five seconds before he remembers that the medals have never done otherwise. he drops them back into the pouch, shakes it for good measure, and sticks his fingers in. eyes closed and mind unfocused, he draws out - one, two, three medals.

the same set greets him when he opens his eyes.

 _ookami, kuma, kitsune -_ it's a combo, one untested and unknown until just recently. by all means, he should be heading to the kougami foundation or at least the closest ridevendor to share the discovery. 

something keeps stopping him, though. something he can't quite name, the obverse of an itch that blocks out the thought of coming up to kougami and handing the medals over--

from below, chiyoko calls out, "eiji-kun, your guests are here!" and eiji's focus snaps back into the moment: the thuringia team is at cous coussier for a reunion dinner, and sawatari-san is introducing him to professor sorrel. 

the mystery of the medals could wait a few more hours.

(then again, eiji muses to himself humorlessly, when did they ever make sense?)

###  _side kureshima: transform, for the present_

peko bounces when he sits next to takatora on the plush couch in the private booth at druper's. his smile is sunny and his eye are shining, and that's how takatora knows he wants something even before peko brings his hands together and starts talking.

across them, zack sips on a smoothie and wisely, callously, leaves takatora to his boyfriend's tender mercies. 

"so i was thinking, takatora-san, since you're moving in a few days--"  
  
"by friday, after mitsuzane's morning classes."

"--yeah, _friday_! i was thinking, after the moving company gets everything setup--"   
  
"it shouldn't take more than an afternoon, we opted to leave most of the furniture at the estate."   
  
"--super convenient, yes! after all that, i was thinking you should have a housewarming party!"

and by _you_ , peko really means _we_ , and by _have_ he really means _let us throw you a housewarming party_. when he wants to be, peko is charmingly transparent. takatora glances at zack, who smiles around his straw and shrugs, eloquently communicating that this is all peko's idea and he's helpless to protest with the simple action.

takatora turns his gaze back to peko, whose expression only brightens the longer takatora stays silent. peko expects a certain answer from him, and, delightedly, he finds he doesn't mind giving the answer peko wants.

"i don't see why i should disapprove. you'll take care not to be too rowdy, won't you?" 

peko explodes into fervent agreement and cheering, at some point interrupting himself to give takatora a formal thank you before throwing himself at zack and bubbling about all the preparations they would need to make.

takatora reaches for his drink - a tall glass with pink, yellow, and orange swirling in fanciful gradients - and texts a quick message to mei, his personal assistant, to contact peko for the party, and another to mitsuzane to let him know of peko's plans.

>> [ peko wants to throw a housewarming party ]

micchi reads the message just as he sits at the empty kitchen of their new house. he looks around at the open spaces that would soon be furnished with tasteful, neutral pieces, and has no problem with the impending descent of the variety of housewarming gifts the beat riders would undoubtedly bring with them.

he knows takatora isn't aware of what he's just agreed to, at least in terms of the scope of what peko deems a housewarming party should be, but the observation is without malice or resignation - micchi knows takatora likes peko and that peko likes takatora, and there's nothing dreadful about either fact.

<< [ i'll let the neighbors know the day before we move in ]

<< [ just finished greeting them ]

the bag he'd used to carry the parcels of _hikkoshi_ soba is empty, replaced by intangible but well-meaning welcomes from their new neighbors. this area of zawame is quieter, home to older residents who invariably worked at the city's schools are government posts at some point, and as micchi guessed when he'd suggested the gift to his brother, they received the parcels with surprised delight. 

he doesn't imagine that their move to this neighborhood would be received entirely without suspicion, hence the gifts as a small step to ward off any untoward opinions. takatora had involved him in the decision to move, and micchi had made his choice, and they would both have to live with a few gossiping old folks as the price for this 'new start'.

from where micchi sits, he can see into nearly every room on the first floor. his room is just down the short hallway, opposite from the bathroom and laundry room, and closer to the door, right at the foot of the staircase. the living room leads into the private garden, the size of it only almost as big as the many sitting rooms in the estate. takatora had the room upstairs and the small study next to it--

\--and that was all there would be in this new house, empty now but soon to be inhabited only by two. the thought is enough to turn micchi's stomach queasy from unease. he wonders briefly if he'll have to practice the calming exercise takatora's therapist had taught him one day while they waited for takatora to finish speaking with their chauffeur, but then dismisses the idea after halving his bottle of water in a few gulps.

it's just a new house. it's just a new living arrangement. it's just - him, and his brother, and all traces of the kureshima before them abandoned, set aside to make space for this new life they've begun building for themselves.

it'll take getting used to, definitely. but despite the anxiety that makes him fumble with the house keys and stub his toe on the unfamiliar corner of the front step, micchi holds a measure of hope that, at the very least, nothing will be exactly as it was before. 

things were bound to change.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> \- aside from the entire GIFT that is the zangetsu stage play, it also gave us yukimura belial grunstein who will be staying in zawame for the foreseeable future. he's got a mission.  
> \- i love the OKuNe medals, so so much!!  
> \- [hikkoshi soba](https://livejapan.com/en/article-a0000686/) is a gift you give to neighbors when you're moving in in japan. it's an old custom, but i figured older folks and scholars would be up to receive some.
> 
> and with that, the clear out concludes! i love this child so much i'm personally gonna enjoy reading it in and one go now that it's up here. hope y'all have enjoyed it too! ^u^


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